"Wage theft" is the plain name for an employer keeping money the law says is yours: hours that never made it onto the timesheet, overtime paid at straight time, tips that went into the house, deductions for breakage, a final paycheck that never came. New York has some of the strongest wage laws in the country, and the gap between what the law provides and what most workers collect is almost entirely a matter of knowing the rules and putting a demand in writing.
Unpaid hours and off-the-clock work. Setup before the shift, cleanup after, working through lunch, answering messages at home, if the employer knew or should have known, it's paid time.
Unpaid or underpaid overtime. Most New York employees are owed one and a half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a week. Paying a salary does not by itself make someone exempt; the job's duties and the salary level do.
Tip theft. Tips belong to the workers who earned them. Management taking a share, or a "service charge" the customer reasonably believed was a tip, is a claim.
Illegal deductions. Labor Law § 193 allows only deductions required by law or authorized in writing for the employee's benefit. Breakage, shortages, walked checks, uniforms, and "mistakes" cannot come out of your pay. (Details: illegal paycheck deductions.)
Late and missing final pay. Final wages are due by the regular payday for the final pay period (Labor Law § 191), including earned commissions and, where the employer's policy provides it, accrued vacation. (Details: final paycheck.)
Misclassification. Calling you a 1099 contractor doesn't make you one. New York looks at control over the work, and a misclassified employee is owed everything an employee is owed. (Details: misclassified as a 1099 contractor.)
This is the part employers count on workers not knowing. Under Labor Law § 198, a worker who prevails on an unpaid-wage claim recovers the wages owed plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, in effect, double, plus interest at 9%, plus reasonable attorney's fees, which the employer pays. The lookback is six years, among the longest anywhere. Retaliation for complaining about wages is separately unlawful under § 215. And since 2023, New York's Penal Law treats wage theft as a form of larceny, which prosecutors have begun to use.
Put those together and a $3,000 shortfall is a $6,000 claim with the employer also on the hook for your lawyer, which is why a demand letter that cites § 198 reads very differently to an employer than a complaint from an employee.
The free one: a Department of Labor complaint. The NYS DOL investigates wage claims at no cost (Form LS 223) and pursues the employer itself. It is the right route for workers who can't or don't want to hire anyone, and for claims involving many employees. The cost is time, investigations commonly take many months, and the worker has little control over the process.
The contingency one: an employment lawyer. Because the statute makes the employer pay your fees, employment lawyers take substantial wage claims on contingency. The right route for large claims, class claims, and anything mixed with discrimination or retaliation. Smaller claims often can't find a taker.
The fast one: an attorney demand letter. For a clear, modest claim, a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, where you want a direct demand from counsel now. A flat-fee unpaid wages demand letter ($499) states the hours, the rate, the shortfall, the liquidated-damages exposure under § 198, the fee shifting, and a deadline, on law-firm letterhead, mailed within 48 hours. If the facts fit one of the other routes better, the intake screening says so before you pay.
Write down your hours, dates, start and end times, breaks, as far back as you can reconstruct them. New York requires employers to keep accurate records and to give you wage notices and statements (§ 195); when they haven't, courts credit the worker's reasonable reconstruction. Keep every pay stub, schedule, text, and email. Do not quit over it if you can help it: you keep your claim either way, and retaliation is its own violation.
Six years. New York's statute of limitations for wage claims under the Labor Law is among the longest in the country, and the six-year lookback applies to liquidated damages too.
An amount equal to the unpaid wages, added on top, under Labor Law § 198, so the employer owes roughly double the shortfall, plus 9% interest and your attorney's fees. They are the default remedy, not a penalty you have to specially prove.
Retaliating against a worker for asserting wage rights is unlawful under Labor Law § 215 and creates a separate claim with its own damages. Put your complaint in writing and keep a copy.
Since 2023 the Penal Law includes wage theft within larceny, and district attorneys have begun prosecuting employers. For an individual worker, the civil route. DOL complaint, lawsuit, or demand letter, is still how you get paid.
Both are legitimate. The DOL is free and slow and right for large or multi-worker claims. A demand letter is fast and direct and right for a clear, modest claim where you want the employer to hear from counsel now. The intake screening tells you which fits before you pay.