As a worker in New Jersey, you deserve financial compensation for the services you provide. Unfortunately, there may be some cases in which you don’t get your fair pay. If you have unpaid wages or back pay that you’re working to recover, here is what to expect from an investigation into your claims.
FindLaw first makes note that before an investigation can be launched, you will need to file a worker complaint. These complaints are kept confidential, and both the reason for your complaint and your personal details will not be revealed. This is to prevent retaliatory actions from being taken against you. Your permission will be required if your identity does need to be revealed.
After you file your complaint, an investigation will be launched so that your claims can be examined by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). These investigations usually take several steps to accomplish.
Steps can include private interviews with employees, record examination, and a conference between a representative of your business and a WHD representative in which the process of investigation will be summarized before it proceeds. Record examination may take a while, depending on the amount of information there is to look at. Examination can also include payroll or time records, manufacturing of goods, and so on.
By the end of the investigation, it will be determined if your business has committed a violation. If it has, steps must be taken to correct that violation. You should also be able to obtain the lost wages that you have been fighting for.