State looking for 16,000 Pennsylvanians owed $16.4 million in back wages
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Millions of dollars of back pay should have been paid to workers in Pennsylvania according to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
Across the state, more than 16,000 workers are owed $16.4 million in back wages. In Allegheny County, it comes to $1.1 million for 1,100 workers.
Dan Doherty is the assistant district director for the Pittsburgh office.
"Oftentimes employers are unaware that their actions are violations of the law or that the violation practices are happening," Doherty said.
They conduct investigations to discover these violations, which run the gamut.
"There are instances where employees have only been paid for their scheduled hours," Doherty said. "There are also instances where employees have not received their tips properly or participated in an invalid tip pool."
Their technicians then address the matter with employers, who will either pay their workers directly or send the money to the agency. The biggest problem is much of it goes unclaimed because it's not always easy to track workers down.
"They will do things like send emails out, call their last known phone numbers, send letters to their last known addresses," Doherty said.
The agency can only hold these back wages for three years. Then, it's required to turn it over to the treasury department.
To avoid this, it created an online search tool called 'Workers Owed Wages.' You can type in your employer and see for yourself.
"That will allow workers who we haven't been able to locate, to come forward themselves," Doherty said.
If you think you may be owed back wages you can access the search tool, here or call the Pittsburgh office at 412-395-4996.
To access the online search tool, click here or call the Pittsburgh office at 412-395-4996.