Fighting for Workers’ Unpaid Wages, Minimum Wage and Overtime

If your employer hasn’t paid you everything you’ve earned, you don’t have to accept it. That includes unpaid overtime, wages below the legal minimum, or pay withheld outright. The Marlborough Law Firm represents workers across New York and New Jersey in unpaid wage claims, from individual cases to class and collective actions.

How Employers Create Unpaid Wages

Unpaid wages take many forms. Employers deny legally required overtime pay. They pay less than the state minimum wage, require employees to work off the clock without pay, or misclassify workers to avoid paying what the law requires. Regardless of how it happens, these practices are illegal, and workers have a legal right to recover their unpaid wages. The federal Wage and Hour Division sets the baseline protections, and New York and New Jersey law often go further.

Misclassification is one of the most common ways employers avoid paying overtime and minimum wage. Some label employees “exempt” when their actual job duties don’t qualify for that exemption. Others call workers independent contractors when they function as employees in every meaningful sense. Both tactics can result in significant unpaid wages over time, and both can be challenged.

New York and New Jersey both give workers up to six years to bring a claim for unpaid wages. In many cases, you can also recover liquidated damages equal to your unpaid wages, effectively doubling your recovery. Waiting doesn’t help your case. The earlier you speak with an attorney, the more of that window you preserve.

If you think your employer owes you unpaid wages, minimum wage, or overtime, contact The Marlborough Law Firm for a free consultation. We’ll review your pay records and work history, and explain your options in plain terms. Then we’ll help you figure out whether you have a claim and what it could be worth. There’s no cost to find out where you stand.