What Can I Do If My Employer Fails to Pay Me on Time or in Full?

If your paycheck arrives late or short, your employer may have violated New Jersey’s wage payment law, or the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law and you have the right to recover what you are owed.

Requirements Under State Law

The New Jersey Wage Payment Law, N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.1 et seq., requires an employer to pay you the full amount of wages due at least twice per month on regularly scheduled paydays, with few exceptions. If you are terminated, laid off, or resign, your employer must pay your final wages no later than your next regular payday. That deadline is fixed by statute and applies regardless of why your employment ended. There is no legal excuse for waiting on a more convenient time or a final accounting.

What Counts as a Wage Violation at Work?

Common violations Attorney Chris Keating sees include:

• Paychecks that consistently arrive after the scheduled payday.
• Missing overtime pay for hours you actually worked.
• Unauthorized deductions taken from your paycheck.
• Withheld commissions that qualify as earned wages.
• Final paychecks withheld after separation.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has confirmed that earned sales commissions count as wages under the Wage Payment Law, so an employer cannot treat a commission as optional or discretionary once you’ve earned it under the terms of your compensation plan. If your employer calls a commission a “bonus” to delay or avoid paying it, that label does not change your legal right to it. The same principle may apply to earned bonuses tied to hours, sales, or performance metrics that your employer promised in writing or through an established practice.

Penalties an Employer Can Face

New Jersey’s Wage Theft Act significantly strengthened the consequences for wage violations. An employer that fails to pay wages when due can face:

• Repayment of all owed wages.
• Liquidated damages of up to 200 percent of the wages owed.
• Administrative fines and penalties imposed by the state.
• Criminal exposure, since willful nonpayment can be charged as a disorderly persons offense.
• Liability for your attorney’s fees and costs.

What to Do if You Haven’t Been Paid

• Document the shortfall by comparing your pay stubs against hours worked, your commission agreement, or your offer letter.
• Raise the issue in writing. A dated email to your employer creates a record that you flagged it promptly.
• File a wage complaint with the New Jersey Department of Labor or speak with an attorney about filing a civil claim directly.
• Act promptly. Claims for unpaid wages are subject to filing deadlines, so waiting can cost you money you are owed. If you were terminated in retaliation for complaining of unpaid wages, the statute of limitations for bringing a whistleblower claim may be as short as one year.

Call Keating Law Firm for a Free and Confidential Consultation

Attorney Chris Keating helps New Jersey employees hold employers accountable for late, short, or missing paychecks under the Wage Payment Law, Wage and Hour Law, and the Wage Theft Act. You should call 856-519-5011 or contact Keating Law Firm online right away if you suspect your employer has stiffed you on your hard-earned wages. Waiting only makes it harder to recover the wages you have already earned.