Skip to main content
NC DOL logo NC DOL

Topical Navigation

  • Home
  • Regulations
  • Safety and Health
    Safety and Health
    • Agricultural Safety and Health
    • Amusement Device
    • Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety
    • Elevator
    • Library
    • Mine and Quarry
    • Occupational Safety and Health
    • Publications
    • Recognition Programs
    • Training
    • Tramway and Funicular
  • Workplace Rights
    Workplace Rights
    • Drug Testing
    • E-Verify
    • Employee Rights Regarding Time Worked and Wages Earned
    • Employer Responsibilities
    • Retaliatory Employment Discrimination
    • Youth Employment Rules
  • News
    News
    • Media Contacts
    • Inside NC Labor Podcast
    • Labor Ledger
    • News Releases
    • Fatality Fact Sheets
  • About NCDOL
    About NCDOL
    • Divisions
    • Historical Note About the Labor Building
    • Leadership
    • Meet Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson
    • NCDOL Annual Reports
  • Contact
  • NC.GOV
  • AGENCIES
  • JOBS
  • SERVICES
NC DOL »  
Workplace Rights
»  
Employee Rights Regarding Time Worked and Wages Earned
»  
How to File a Wage Complaint

How to File a Wage Complaint

In order for the N.C. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Bureau to assist an employee with a wage dispute, a complaint must be filed with this office. To file a wage complaint, you must contact our Call‐Center at 1‐800‐625‐2267 (1‐800‐NC‐LABOR). An Information Specialist will take the complaint information over the telephone and enter it into our computer data intake system. To better serve you, we ask that you have the following information available when you call:

•    Your name
•    Your address, phone number (if cell phone we need your cell phone carrier)
•    Your email address
•    Your date of birth
•    Your Job description or Title
•    Name of the Employer/Company where you work(ed)
•    Employer’s Physical address (i.e. business location) (cannot accept P.O. Boxes)
•    Employer’s contact information such as:  phone number, email, or fax
•    First and last name of the contact person we need to speak with in regards to your wages (i.e. owner, manager or supervisor)
•    Business Nature (i.e. law office, home health care, restaurant, etc.)
•    Rate of Pay (i.e. $7.25 per hour, 25% commission)
•    Total amount you claim is owed to you by your employer
•    Dates worked, but not compensated
•    The date of your first missed pay check
•    Beginning date of employment
•    Ending date of employment

     Due to the high volume of complaints, our office will not accept complaints for wages due more than one year ago.

You must provide us with your name and contact information if you are filing a complaint for wages. We are unable to accept third party complaints for wages (i.e. girlfriend or wife filing for boyfriend or husband). Our Call‐Center is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Monday thru Friday.

Anonymous complaints can only be filed in the following circumstances:

  • E‐Verify
  • Youth Employment

An employee may also take legal action on their own, including small claims court if applicable, without first having to file a wage complaint with this office. However, an employee cannot come back to us to file a wage claim if they take their own legal action in court regardless of the outcome. If an employee files a wage complaint with us and we cannot resolve their complaint, they are still free to take their own legal action.

We do not take wage complaints for less than $50.00.

If your wage complaint deals with your last paycheck, you must wait three days after the payday in order to file a wage complaint with this office.

For more information about workplace rights, please contact our toll free number at 1-800-NC-LABOR (800-625-2267).

Employee Rights Regarding Time Worked and Wages Earned

  • Adverse Weather Policies in the Private Sector
  • Changes or Reduction in Wages
  • Debit-Payroll Card Payment and Direct Deposit
  • Deductions from Wages
  • Derechos al Trabajador
  • Employment-At-Will
  • Fluctuating Workweek Overtime Pay
  • Full-Time vs. Part-Time Employees
  • Garnishments in North Carolina
  • How to File a Wage Complaint
  • Independent Contractor vs. Employee
  • Job Reference and Blacklisting Laws
  • Job Reference and Blacklisting Laws
  • Maximum / Minimum Hours Worked
  • Medical Payment Law
  • Minimum Wage in N.C.
  • Overtime Pay Coefficient Table
  • Overtime Pay, Salary and Comp Time
  • Overtime–Weighted Average (WAOT)
  • Parental Leave
  • Payment of Final Wages to Separated Employees
  • Prevailing Wage Rates
  • Promised Wages Including Wage Benefits
  • Recording Time and Rounding of Hours Worked
  • Riding and Driving/Meeting and Training
  • Volunteer Firefighter-EMS Volunteer Work Hours
  • What to Know About Breaks

Share this page:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Back to top

Contact Information

N.C. Department of Labor
Physical Address
4 West Edenton St.
Raleigh, NC 27601

Mailing Address
1101 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1101

1-800-NC-LABOR
(1-800-625-2267)

Tweets by NCDOL

Tweets by NCDOL

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • NC.GOV
  • NCDOL Employee Directory
  • Translation Disclaimer
  • Accessibility
  • TERMS OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • OPEN BUDGET
NC DOL