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My employer won't pay my last paycheck

Use the free tool — Wage Theft Letter

Your last paycheck is still wages

If your employer owes you for hours you already worked — even after you quit, were fired, or the job ended — those are wages, and they don't stop being owed just because the job is over. Florida's minimum wage is $14.00 an hour from September 30, 2025, rising to $15.00 an hour on September 30, 2026 (tipped employees: $10.98 cash wage plus tips). Every hour you worked must be paid at least that rate.

If any of those hours were over 40 in a single week, federal law (the FLSA) requires time-and-a-half pay for the hours over 40 — Florida has no separate overtime law of its own.

Employers must pay for all hours worked, including work before you clocked in, after you clocked out, or during breaks that were interrupted by work. Tips belong to you — a manager or owner may not keep any part of a tip pool. None of this depends on your immigration status, and it doesn't matter if you were paid in cash.

Is your unpaid last paycheck wage theft?

• Likely owed — send the notice. Your last paycheck was never paid, was paid below minimum wage, left out overtime, or your tips were kept by the employer or a manager.
• Possibly owed — check the facts. The employer says you were an independent contractor, salaried and exempt, or that a deduction was legal. These questions depend on facts that a lawyer or the Wage and Hour Division has to sort out — this page can't decide that for you.
• Looks paid correctly. The hours and pay add up under the rules above.

Only your actual hours and dates show which one applies to you.

The written notice Florida law requires first

Before you can sue for Florida minimum wage, you must give your employer written notice. It has to state the minimum wage you're claiming, the actual or estimated dates and hours you worked, and the total amount unpaid (Fla. Stat. 448.110(6)(a)). After that notice, the employer has 15 calendar days to pay before you can file suit.

The same letter also works as a general demand for overtime and any other unpaid wages. Sending it does not stop you from also filing a complaint with the federal Wage and Hour Division.

How far back you can claim — and why waiting hurts you

• Federal (FLSA) claims — including overtime — reach back two years, or three years if the underpayment was willful.
• Florida minimum-wage claims reach back four years, or five years if willful.

Every week you wait, a week can drop off the back of that window. Write down every day and the hours you worked, from memory, now. Keep any schedules, time sheets, texts, and pay stubs. Note anyone who saw you working. Don't sign anything that says you were paid in full without reading it first.

Where to get help

• U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division — free, confidential, any immigration status, any language: 1-866-487-9243, dol.gov/agencies/whd.
• Some counties have their own wage-theft ordinance — for example, Miami-Dade. Search your county's name plus "wage theft" to see if one applies to you.
• Free civil legal aid, including employment help: floridalawhelp.org.
• Small-claims or county court, a worker center, or a union can also help.

What to do next

The free tool reads the hours, pay, and dates from your own situation — not a stranger's example — and shows an estimate of what you're likely owed, the arithmetic behind it, and the rule it breaks. In the full version, it prepares the written notice Florida law requires, ready to send by certified mail. This is not legal or tax advice, and it can be wrong — confirm anything important with free legal aid or the Wage and Hour Division before relying on it.

Wage Theft Letter explains pay rules in plain language and estimates from the numbers you enter; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. It does not decide whether you are an employee, exempt, or owed anything — the Wage and Hour Division, a court, or a lawyer does. Wage rights do not depend on immigration status. Free help: dol.gov/agencies/whd · floridalawhelp.org. Nothing you type is stored.