1. Work out what you think you are owed
Before raising anything, get to a specific figure. "My pay seems low" invites a shrug; "Week ending 12 June shows 38.5 paid hours and my punches total 41.25, a difference of 2.75 hours including 1.25 at overtime" invites an answer.
Check the things that most often explain a gap:
- The workweek boundary. Are you comparing the same seven days payroll is? It may not start on Monday.
- Break deductions. Was a meal period deducted that you worked through? That time is payable.
- Rounding. Does it go both ways, or only one? Here is how to check.
- The regular rate. Did a bonus or shift differential get left out of the overtime calculation? It should not have been.
- Your classification. Salaried is not the same as exempt. The test has three parts.
The timesheet calculator will do the hours and the overtime split, and names the rule it applied so you can quote it.
2. Document it before you raise it
Records made at the time carry far more weight than a reconstruction later. Gather:
- Your own record of hours worked, ideally written down as you went.
- Pay stubs for the periods in question. Employers must generally provide them and you are entitled to yours.
- Your raw punch data if a time clock is used — ask payroll for the timestamps, not the rounded totals.
- Anything setting out your schedule, rate or classification: offer letter, handbook, rota.
Keep copies somewhere that is not your work account. People lose access to work systems abruptly, sometimes precisely when they most need the records.
3. Raise it internally, in writing
Start with payroll or HR rather than your direct manager if the two are separate — payroll errors are usually payroll's to fix, and it keeps the conversation technical.
Email rather than conversation. Not because you expect a fight, but because it timestamps when you asked and what you asked. State the period, the figures, the difference, and what you would like done. Keep it short and unemotional; you are reporting a discrepancy, not making an accusation.
Most cases end here. Payroll systems misconfigure, someone keys a rate wrongly, an automatic deduction runs where it should not have.
4. If that does not resolve it
Two routes, and the first is free.
Your state labour department. Every state has one, most accept complaints online, and using one costs nothing. They can compel an employer to produce time and payroll records — which is the decisive advantage, because those records are usually the evidence and you cannot obtain them yourself. For federal claims, the US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division does the same.
An employment lawyer. Many take wage claims on contingency, and unpaid wage statutes often provide for the employer to pay legal costs, which changes the economics considerably. Worth a consultation if the amount is large, if it affects several colleagues, or if you are facing consequences for raising it.
Two things worth knowing
There is a deadline. Federal claims generally reach back two years, or three for willful violations. State limits vary and some are longer. Waiting costs you the oldest weeks first, permanently.
Retaliation is unlawful. Being fired, demoted, cut in hours or otherwise punished for raising a wage complaint is prohibited under the FLSA and state equivalents. Retaliation is a separate claim from the underpayment, and it is often easier to prove — which is precisely why the timeline of who knew what and when is worth recording.
What this site cannot do
These tools apply published rules to figures you enter. They cannot tell you whether you are exempt, what your employer's defined workweek is, or what your contract says — and none of this is legal advice. What they can do is get you to a specific number, with the rule that produced it named and cited, which is the thing that makes the conversation productive.
Related
- Can my employer round my clock-in time?
- Salaried does not mean you lose overtime
- Why overtime is not always 1.5× your hourly wage