COLLECTION OF WAGES

The Department of Labor assists minors and others in the collection of their unpaid wages. The Department's Labor Standards Division investigates claims for unpaid wages and attempts to adjust equitably the differences between the employer and employee.

The Commissioner of Labor is authorized to institute criminal proceedings for failure to pay wages. The Commissioner of Labor may also require an employer to pay interest and civil penalties on unpaid wages. The Commissioner also may take an assignment of the employee's wage claim and may institute a civil suit to recover the wages due. Where civil action is brought to recover unpaid wages and the failure to pay wages is found to be willful, the employer may be required to pay an additional amount of 25 percent of the claim in liquidated damages.