Violations
Wage Theft
Last updated September 3, 2025The term “wage theft” refers to the act of employers stealing earned wages from their employees. Wage theft can include the failure to pay minimum wage, overtime, stealing tips, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, payroll fraud, and the failure to provide required meal and rest breaks. The federal law that governs the payment of wages is The Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes minimum and overtime wage laws and recordkeeping requirements. In New York, the New York State Labor Law governs employment relationships, and many employers are subject to both state and federal jurisdiction. Wage standards are enforced by the federal and state departments of Labor (“US DOL” and “NYS DOL”, respectively), prosecutorial entities such as the New York State Attorney General and District Attorneys, and through private litigation. The following charts list the cases with the largest monetary damages involving employers operating in New York City. These employers were either investigated by a regulatory agency that ultimately found that the employers owed wages to their employees or were subject to a private lawsuit that resulted in a monetary settlement of back wages to workers.
Agency Action
Wages Owed in 2024, NYC Employers (NYS DOL)
Wages Owed in 2023, NYC Employers (NYS DOL)
Back Wages Owed 2024, NYC Employers (US DOL)
Back Wages Owed in 2023, NYC Employers (US DOL)
The NYS DOL charts include investigations that were opened in 2023 and 2024 and where the department found that the employers had violated the wage and hour provisions of the New York Labor Law. Employers were included if the workplace listed in the investigation was located within New York City. The charts include employers who owed $100,000 or more in wages in 2024 and $200,00 or more in 2023. Total wages by each employer and the number of affected workers are aggregated for the two respective timeframes in the charts, including some employers who were found to have owed wages in multiple investigations. “Wages Owed” in these charts is the term used by NYS DOL to refer to the total wages found to be due as a result of an investigation. Information on closed cases where the employer has not paid back wages can be found in the NYS DOL’s Wage Theft Investigation Dashboard in the “Judgments” tab.
The US DOL cases include those closed in 2023 and 2024 where the worksite was located within New York City. The charts include employers that owed $30,000 or more in back wages in 2023 and $10,000 or more in 2024. Total wages by each employer and the number of affected workers are aggregated for the two respective timeframes in the charts, including some employers who were found to have owed wages in multiple investigations. “Back Wages Owed” in these charts is the term used by US DOL to refer to the total back wages agreed to be paid by the employer (field name = “bw_atp_amt”) as a result of an investigation.
Wage and Hour Legal Settlement
These charts include wage and hour cases that were settled in 2023 and 2024 where some or all of the work was performed within New York City. For prosecutorial agencies, the chart utilized data obtained from each agency’s press releases. The private litigation refers to settlements, not judicial orders, in cases that were filed in US District Courts, specifically in either the Southern District of New York or Eastern District of New York.
Wage and Hour Legal Settlements