The federal government has $4.3 million earned by Florida workers. Some might be yours
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Florida, food and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Unpaid or underpaid labor can seem as common in Florida restaurants and grocery stores as mahi-mahi.
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It’s not often that you hear a government agency say it possesses millions of your dollars, doesn’t want to hold onto it and wants you to come get your cut. Yet, that’s precisely what the U.S. Department of Labor is doing.
The Labor Department is holding $4,373,110 of wages earned by 7,480 Florida workers, money garnered by investigations of employers by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division.
Wage and Hour looks into violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, usually paying under minimum age or not paying overtime; violations of workers brought in on the H-2A temporary work visa program; pay shorted by federal contractors (Davis-Bacon Act); and other federal pay laws.
By the time these investigations finish, however, not everybody’s in the same place.
“In most cases, we look back over a two-year period,” said Rachel Mast-Matos, Wage and Hour’s Planning and Report Coordinator. “Sometimes, by the time we find the wages for the worker, they’re no longer working for the employers. Or, by the time we get payment from the employer, the worker has changed jobs or their contact information is old.”
READ MORE: Miami Dade, Broward security officers who patrol public buildings fight for better wages
Mast-Matos says Labor can hold the wages for over three years before they get turned over to the Treasury Department.
Getting to your money
The quickest route to see if you’ve got money waiting for you with Labor requires only an Internet connection.
Go to the Workers Owed Wages (WOW) part of the Labor Department website. Enter your employer’s name. Remember, some businesses are registered under one name and do business as another name. As an example, using a business that hasn’t been named in any pay violations, the Key Food Supermarket at 10400 NW Seventh Ave. in North Miami-Dade is owned by 10400 Food Corp.
“What will most likely show up in WOW is the employer’s trade name,” the U.S. Department of Labor said. “Folks may know that as a doing business by name or the name the company uses in advertising.
“However, we recommend folks search for the legal name (aka corporate name) too, so that they have the best chance of finding the back wages they are owed.”
If the employer comes up, enter your name.
If your name comes up, you’ll be asked to verify your claim with documentation such as a pay stub, a W-2 form, a tax identification number, a social security care or other identifying documents.
“We really want to encourage people, even if they don’t think they’re owed money, share the website with someone who might,” Mast-Matos said.
If you need for in-person assistance for this or want to report an employer for a wage violation, you can go to one of the Wage and Hour Division offices. Miami-Dade’s is at 11400 N. Kendall Dr. in Kendall; Broward’s is at 510 Shotgun Rd. in Sunrise; Palm Beach’s is at 1818 S. Australian Ave. in West Palm Beach; and the nearest one to Bradenton is 4200 W. Cypress St. in Tampa. Or, you can call 866-4US-WAGE. Assistance is available in over 100 languages.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 6:15 PM.
