Pennsylvania wage claims: how to get your unpaid pay

How to file a wage claim in Pennsylvania

1. Gather your records

   Dates and hours worked, your pay rate, pay stubs or bank deposits, texts or schedules, and the employer's name and address.

2. Ask in writing first (optional)

   A demand letter gives your employer a deadline to pay and shows you tried. Use the free letter on this page.

3. File with Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry

   File a wage complaint with the Bureau of Labor Law Compliance online (the form times out after 20 minutes, so have your answers ready) or on the paper form LLC-9, sent by fax to 717-787-0517, email to [email protected], or mail to 651 Boas Street, Room 1301, Harrisburg, PA 17121. The same online form covers minimum wage, overtime, and Wage Payment and Collection Law problems such as late or missing pay, a missing last paycheck, and improper deductions. L&I notifies the employer and investigates; filing is free. You can also sue in court yourself.

4. Watch the deadline

   3 years from the day the wages were due to start a state claim or lawsuit for unpaid wages or liquidated damages under the Wage Payment and Collection Law (43 P.S. § 260.9a(g)). For minimum wage or overtime claims, L&I advises filing within 2 years of when the work was done, and as soon as you can.

Minimum wage and overtime in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal rate. No increase has been scheduled. The state Minimum Wage Act overrides local ordinances on minimum wage, except ones adopted before 2006 (43 P.S. § 333.114a).

Minimum wage (2026)

$7.25

Tipped cash wage

$2.83

Overtime

Most workers must get 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. There is no general daily overtime; hospitals and care facilities may use the '8 and 80' system (overtime after 8 hours in a day and 80 in 14 days) by agreement. Comp time instead of overtime pay is not legal for private employers. Executive, administrative, and professional employees must earn at least $684 a week (and meet duties tests) to be exempt.

Paydays: On regular paydays set in advance. Wages are due within the time stated in a written contract, or the customary time in the trade, or otherwise within 15 days after the pay period ends (43 P.S. § 260.3(a)).

Your final paycheck in Pennsylvania

If you are fired or laid off

By the next regular payday on which the wages would otherwise be due (by certified mail if you ask).

If you quit

Same: by the next regular payday, whether you quit, resign, or are laid off.

Law

43 P.S. § 260.5(a) (Wage Payment and Collection Law § 5)

When was your final paycheck due in Pennsylvania?

Enter how your job ended and your last day of work. We show your state’s rule and, when the rule is a simple number of days or your next payday, the date.

Penalties your employer may owe

If wages stay unpaid more than 30 days after the regular payday with no good-faith dispute, you can claim liquidated damages of 25% of the wages due or $500, whichever is greater (43 P.S. § 260.10). The court must also order the employer to pay your reasonable attorney fees (43 P.S. § 260.9a(f)). If you file with L&I and the employer doesn't pay or explain within 10 days of notice, it owes a 10% penalty to the state (§ 260.9a(c)). For minimum-wage violations you can sue for the unpaid amount plus costs and attorney fees (43 P.S. § 333.113). Violations are also crimes with fines.

Retaliation and immigration status

L&I says the Minimum Wage Act forbids firing or retaliating against you for complaining about your rights under the Act. An employer who fires or punishes you for testifying in an L&I investigation faces a fine of $500 to $1,000 (43 P.S. § 333.112(a)).

Federal law also makes it illegal to fire or punish you for filing a wage complaint or cooperating in an investigation (US DOL Fact Sheet #77A).

The US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces federal wage law without regard to immigration status, and its services are free and confidential whether you are documented or not (US DOL).

Deductions and tips

Deductions other than taxes need your written permission, must be for your benefit, generally cannot drop your pay below minimum wage, and a blanket authorization signed when you were hired is not valid. Tipped workers can be paid $2.83 an hour only if they get at least $135 a month in tips and keep all their tips; employers may not take credit-card or payment processing fees out of your tips.

Good to know in Pennsylvania

• Liquidated damages are at least $500 if your wages are more than 30 days late without a good-faith dispute.
• Sick leave, holiday pay, and vacation pay are only protected if your employer promised them in writing, such as in a handbook.
• Philadelphia has its own city worker protections that L&I does not enforce.

Forms

• Wage Complaint (online, Compliance Tracking System)
• Wage Complaint form LLC-9 (PDF)
• Know Your Rights: Wage Payment & Collection Law (PDF)

Wage-theft calculator for Pennsylvania

Work out what you should have been paid: at least the minimum wage for every hour, plus overtime. Then compare it with what you got.

Free demand letter for unpaid wages

A short, firm letter asking your employer to pay what it owes by a deadline. Many workers get paid at this step, and in some states a written demand starts penalties or makes the employer pay your attorney fees later. Fill this in, then download the letter as PDF or Word (or copy it), sign it, keep a copy and send it in a way you can prove, such as certified mail or an email you keep.

Questions about wage claims in Pennsylvania

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