ATLANTA — Anyone pouring their time and effort into their work should be paid for it. Karla Falcon works with the Wage and Hour division of the U.S. Department of Labor. She said in Georgia, there is nearly $2 million in unclaimed wages owed to about 5,600 people. Nationally, about $170 million is owed to around 189,000 people.
"These are wages that workers have earned, and we want to make sure they receive the money they worked so hard for," Falcon said. "This includes employees that have left an employer where violations have occurred, a change of contact information, or they changed jobs."
Falcon said employers may have had a payment error or didn't account enough for overtime wages.
To find out if one is eligible, one can use the Workers Owed Wages (WOW) tool. Simply input the name of the employer and the state, and from there, it can be determined how much money one may be owed.
Based on data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Gwinnett County saw the most money owed back, with more than $371,000 due to 233 workers. In Fulton County, 441 workers were owed more than $161,000, and in DeKalb County, 213 workers were owed more than $125,000.
According to the Department of Labor, employees in agriculture, construction, hospitality and federal contract work experience the most work violations, which could lead to more unpaid wages.
"Despite our efforts to locate each worker, a portion of the money remains unclaimed," Falcon said. "We're only able to hold or look for the workers for three years. After that, it's out of our control."
Falcon said time is of the essence as money not claimed for three years goes back to the U.S. Treasury. She said the number of people looking to see if they're owed back wages spikes around the holidays. Last year, the Department of Labor tracked an almost 400% increase in site visitors looking to see if they could claim any unpaid wages.
"If anyone believes their employer is violating the law as far as where they're from, they can contact us to ask questions or file a complaint," Falcon said. "All of this is confidential."