Wage Theft Investigation Dashboard

Overview

The New York State's Wage Theft Investigations dashboard provides comprehensive information on wage violation cases, wages returned to workers, and penalties assessed. This data encompasses cases where allegations of wage theft were investigated, and a finding related to wage theft was made against an employer who employed workers in New York State.

Key Features

Includes Completed Investigations: The dashboard includes cases that have already been investigated and concluded.
Excludes Ongoing Investigations: Cases that have an ongoing investigation or were investigated, and the allegation of wage theft was found invalid are not included in the dashboard.
Investigation Timeline: Investigations are displayed by the year they were accepted for investigation, providing a chronological overview.

Investigation Process

Investigations into wage theft allegations can be complex and time-consuming. The duration of an investigation may vary depending on several factors:

Complexity: More complex cases involving multiple parties or intricate financial records may take longer to investigate.
Cooperation: The level of cooperation from employers, witnesses, and other involved parties can impact the investigation timeline.
Disputes: If the Department of Labor's (DOL) findings are disputed, the resolution process can extend the investigation period.

It's important to note that investigations may take many months or even years to complete, ensuring a thorough and comprehensive examination of the allegations.

During 2020 and 2021, Worker Protection staff were reassigned to help with unemployment insurance, resulting in fewer cases being investigated.

If you worked at one of the listed establishments where we have collected funds and believe you may have been included in our recovery, please visit Unclaimed Funds | Office of the New York State Comptroller (ny.gov)

Using the Dashboard

The dashboard below can be used to explore the data in multiple ways:

Zip Code Heat Map – Allows you to explore the number of wage violations by zip code.

Wages Returned to Workers – Provides information on the monetary number of recovered wages, damages, and interest disbursed to workers by year and industry.

Penalties Assessed -- Provides information on the monetary number of penalties assessed by and owed to the New York State Department of Labor by year and industry.

Judgments – Allows you to search judgments by employer and year of judgment.

Employer Search – Allows you to search wage theft cases by employer and year of case.

If you have questions or feedback regarding this tool and the information presented, please contact us at [email protected].

Definitions

Closed – Paid - The investigation is closed, and the wage or penalty amount found due has been paid in full.

Penalties Assessed – Does not include money recovered for unpaid wages; penalties are assessed pursuant to the NYS Labor Law and are paid to the Department of Labor.

Pending Payment - All investigations are moved to this status once the initial investigation into the wage theft case is complete; this status includes those investigations where the employer is working with the department to establish a payment plan, where the employer is appealing the department’s findings, or where judgments and formal collection efforts are ongoing.

Wages Returned to Workers – Includes wages, damages, and interest that may be disbursed to workers or sent to the NYS Comptroller.

The following data is up to date as 6/30/2026.

Please note that this dashboard is still being developed and may undergo changes.

To learn more about how to use Tableau and download data, check out our guide Tableau Tips for the Web.