Approximately 12,000 workers in Texas don’t know they are owed money. These unpaid wages, totaling $8 million, were collected from investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, exposing instances where employers have failed to properly compensate their current and former employees.
According to Jesus Valdez (via Fox4), the Dallas District Director of the Department of Labor, the unclaimed funds average about $662 per worker. In North Texas, over $1.6 million is owed to 2,500 workers.
Denton leads the state in the count of workers with unclaimed back wages, owing over $260,000 to 487 employees. In Tarrant and Collin Counties, the total unclaimed wages exceed $620,000.
In cases where employees cannot be located, owed wages are typically disbursed directly by employers. But if workers cannot be located, the funds are then placed into an account managed by the U.S. Department of Labor. However, if workers fail to claim their wages within a three-year period, the funds are transferred to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Department of Labor advises all individuals who have worked for a company to check their database to see if they are owed any unpaid wages — this applies to both current and former employees.
The department prioritizes certain industries such as construction and food services, but the investigations span across all industries and salary brackets.
"We really recommend that anyone go in there and enter their current employers name or former employers name and try to determine if they may be owed any wages," Valdez told Fox4. "This is money that has already been earned by workers, and it's their money. So they should go in there and see if there's anything there for them."
To find out if you are owed wages from current or former employers visit the link here.