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Can I file a wage complaint without papers?

Use the free tool — Wage Theft Letter

Yes — your immigration status does not matter

You can file a wage complaint in Florida no matter your immigration status, and no matter whether you were paid in cash. Wage rights apply to every worker. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against you for making a wage complaint.

What the law says

• Florida minimum wage is $14.00 an hour from September 30, 2025, and rises to $15.00 an hour on September 30, 2026. Tipped employees must be paid at least $10.98 an hour in cash wages, plus tips (Fla. Const. Art. X, s. 24; Fla. Stat. 448.110).
• Federal law (the FLSA) requires 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, for non-exempt employees (29 U.S.C. 207).
• Tips belong to you. Managers and owners may not keep any part of a tip pool.
• Retaliation for a wage complaint — including threats about immigration status — is illegal (29 U.S.C. 215(a)(3); Fla. Stat. 448.110(5)). If someone threatens you about your papers because you asked about pay, tell legal aid or the Wage and Hour Division.

Where to file

• The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division: 1-866-487-9243, dol.gov/agencies/whd. Free, confidential, any immigration status, any language.
• Some counties, for example Miami-Dade, have a wage theft ordinance. Search your county's name plus "wage theft" to see if yours does.
• Small-claims or county court.
• Free legal aid at floridalawhelp.org.
• A worker center or union, if you belong to one.

Before you file: the written notice Florida law requires

If your claim is about Florida's minimum wage, Florida law says you must first send the employer written notice. The notice must state the minimum wage you're owed, the actual or estimated dates and hours, and the total unpaid amount. The employer then has 15 calendar days to pay before you can sue (Fla. Stat. 448.110(6)(a)). The same letter also works as a demand for overtime and other unpaid wages, and sending it does not stop you from filing with the federal Wage and Hour Division at the same time.

Act now — time limits

Federal (FLSA) claims reach back two years, or three years if the employer's violation was willful (29 U.S.C. 255). Florida minimum-wage claims reach back four years, or five years if willful (Fla. Const. Art. X, s. 24(e)). Every week you wait can drop a week of pay off the back of that window.

What to protect now

• Write down every day and the hours you worked, from memory, now.
• Keep photos of schedules and time sheets.
• Save texts and pay stubs.
• Note any witnesses.
• Never sign anything that says you were paid in full without reading it first.

What to do next

The free tool reads the hours, pay, and dates you type — not your name or papers — and gives you an estimate of what you're likely owed, the rule it breaks, and where to file. In the full version it prepares the written notice Florida law requires, ready to send. Nothing you type is stored, and no account is required. This is not legal advice; confirm anything important with free legal aid or the Wage and Hour Division.

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.