Please ensure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser as this site requires it to operate properly.

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Workers Owed Wages

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) enforces some of our nation's most comprehensive labor laws. When we find violations, we often recover unpaid wages on behalf of employees. The agency makes every effort to locate and notify all employees due back wages. If we cannot find an employee, we hold their back wages for three years while we continue our efforts to locate them. After three years, if we remain unable to find the person, we are required to send the money to the U.S. Treasury.



If you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD, you can search our database of workers for whom we have money waiting to be claimed. If you find that you are due money, you can submit a claim. Begin by entering the employer’s name, then click “WOW Search”.