Your rights at work

General information, not legal advice. Data reviewed on October 10, 2026.

What it is

In the U.S., federal minimum wage and overtime laws protect covered workers regardless of immigration status. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) enforces the law regardless of your status. You must always be paid for work you already did.

• Federal minimum wage: $7.25 per hour. Your state or city may have a higher minimum; if so, you get the higher one. You can see your state and city minimum in the Work tab of this app, or at your state or city labor office.
• If you get tips, your employer may pay you $2.13 per hour directly, but only if you keep your tips, and with tips you must reach at least the minimum wage (federal $7.25; your state or city may require more, and some states do not allow paying less than the full minimum before tips).
• Overtime: after 40 hours in a workweek, you must get 1.5 times your regular pay unless you are exempt. To be exempt as an office worker, among other things, you must earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 a year). A 2024 rule that raised that amount was struck down by the courts, so it is still $684. Your state may require more.
• Note: under federal law, farm workers do not get overtime, and live-in domestic workers may not get it. Your state may give you more.
• Federal law does not require paid vacation, sick days, or meal breaks. Some states do.

Official sources: DOL WHD · Worker FAQs ↗ · DOL WHD · Minimum wage and tips ↗ · DOL WHD · Exempt salary levels ↗ · Federal Register · 2026 exemption rule ↗ · DOL WHD · Overtime pay ↗ · DOL WHD · Farm work (Fact Sheet 12) ↗ · DOL WHD · Live-in domestic (Fact Sheet 79B) ↗ · DOL WHD · FLSA reference guide ↗ · DOL WHD · State minimum wages ↗

Who can help

• Wages: WHD, 1-866-487-9243, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (local time). Help in more than 200 languages.
• Safety: OSHA, 1-800-321-6742.
• Discrimination based on national origin, race, sex, religion, age, or disability: EEOC, 1-800-669-4000 (employers with 15 or more workers; 20 or more for age).
• Citizenship discrimination, or document abuse in the I-9 or E-Verify process: DOJ Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER), 1-800-255-7688. This law protects people who are authorized to work.
• Retaliation for joining with coworkers to improve conditions, with or without a union: NLRB, 1-844-762-6572.
• Work injuries: your state workers' compensation office. Rules for undocumented workers vary by state.

Official sources: DOL WHD · Worker FAQs ↗ · OSHA · File a complaint ↗ · EEOC · How to file a charge ↗ · DOJ IER · File an IER charge ↗ · NLRB · How to enforce your rights ↗ · EEOC · Time limits for filing ↗ · DOL · Workers’ compensation ↗

How

1. Keep proof: your hours, pay stubs, messages, and your employer's name and address.
2. For wages, call WHD or visit a local office. Complaints are generally confidential: they do not share your name unless you allow it or a court orders it.
3. For safety, you can complain to OSHA online, by phone, by mail, or in person, in any language, and anonymously.
4. You may refuse a dangerous task only if ALL of these are true: you asked to remove the danger and it was not removed; you truly believe the danger is immediate; a reasonable person would see a real risk of death or serious injury; and there is no time for OSHA to fix it. Stay at the worksite until told to leave.

Official sources: DOL WHD · Worker FAQs ↗ · DOL WHD · How to file a complaint ↗ · OSHA · File a complaint ↗ · OSHA · Right to refuse dangerous work ↗

How much it costs

Filing with these agencies is free. Do not pay anyone to "file your complaint."

Official sources: DOL WHD · Wage complaint (free) ↗ · OSHA · File a complaint ↗ · EEOC · How to file a charge ↗

Deadlines

Complain as soon as possible: deadlines are short.

• Wages: 2 years (3 if the violation was willful).
• Punished for reporting a hazard: 30 days (OSHA).
• EEOC: 180 days (300 in many states). If you work for the federal government, the process is different and the deadline is much shorter (generally 45 days).
• IER: 180 days.
• NLRB: generally 6 months.

Official sources: DOL WHD · Worker FAQs ↗ · OSHA · Right to refuse dangerous work ↗ · EEOC · Time limits for filing ↗ · DOJ IER · File an IER charge ↗ · NLRB · How to enforce your rights ↗

Watch out

• It is illegal to fire you, punish you, or report you to immigration because you complained. This applies regardless of your status. If it happens, say so in your complaint and talk to a lawyer or accredited representative.
• Limit: under Hoffman Plastic (2002), if you are not authorized to work, the NLRB cannot order your employer to pay you for time you did not work after an illegal firing. But hours you already worked must always be paid.
• Do not use false documents. It can have serious consequences.
• "Deferred action" for workers in labor disputes (DALE) is no longer shown as active: its official pages have been archived since 2025. Do not count on it. Talk to a lawyer or accredited representative.

Official sources: EEOC · Retaliation is unlawful (joint) ↗ · Supreme Court · Hoffman Plastic (2002) ↗ · USCIS · Archive: labor deferred action ↗ · DOL WHD · Retaliation (Fact Sheet 77A) ↗ · DOL WHD · Hoffman Plastic (Fact Sheet 48) ↗ · DHS · Archive: labor law enforcement ↗