Are you owed pay from a Dallas job?
Unpaid overtime, missed meal or rest breaks, off-the-clock work and unreimbursed expenses may be unlawful. Retaliation after you asked about pay may be unlawful too.
If your workplace rights were violated, you may be able to pursue the wages you earned and, where the law provides, penalties and interest.
Not sure the math is off? You can request a review even without your pay records in hand.
What wage theft can look like, and what the law calls it.
Wage violations are usually quiet and routine, a timekeeping habit, a job title, a 'that's just how we do it.' What matters is whether you were paid what the law requires for the hours you actually worked.
I clock out when the schedule says, then keep working, because the work isn't done.
The law calls it → possible off-the-clock work
- I regularly work through breaks because there's no coverage. The law calls it → possible missed-break violation
- I'm salaried with a manager title, but I do the same work as the hourly crew. The law calls it → possible misclassification
- My hours changed after I asked about my pay. The law calls it → possible retaliation
- My offer letter says 'salaried, exempt,' but I run a register and stock shelves next to the hourly crew for about fifty hours a week. The law calls it → possible overtime misclassification under the FLSA
These cover unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, missed meal and rest breaks, misclassification (exempt or contractor), unpaid final wages, retaliation for raising pay issues, in any industry. If something here is familiar, you don't have to be sure before you ask.
Illustrative situations, not client accounts.
Texas has no state overtime or break law, so most Dallas workers rely on the federal FLSA, overtime after forty hours in a workweek and the federal minimum wage, enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Texas Payday Law separately governs the timing of your pay, with a Texas Workforce Commission wage claim due within 180 days.
What could taking action help you recover?
Depending on the facts, legal action may help recover unpaid wages, address missed breaks and off-the-clock work, and correct the practice going forward. Available remedies depend on the facts and applicable law; no outcome is guaranteed.
Unpaid wages or overtime
Hours worked but never paid, including overtime premiums, may be recoverable for the statutory period.
Missed-break and off-the-clock pay
Compensation may be available for missed meal or rest periods and for work performed before or after the clock.
Expense reimbursement and related pay
Necessary work expenses, and wages tied to them, may be reimbursable depending on the state and the facts.
Statutory relief where applicable
Some claims carry interest, statutory amounts, or fee-shifting; which apply depends on the claim and jurisdiction.
You do not need complete pay records, or certainty that your paycheck was wrong, before asking what your options are.
Common concerns we hear from workers about pay
I do not have complete time records.
Employers generally must keep time and pay records. Missing records are common in these cases, and schedules, messages, badge data, and coworker accounts can help reconstruct hours.
I was paid a salary.
A salary or job title does not by itself make you exempt from overtime. Exemption generally depends on your actual duties and pay, not the label.
I signed an arbitration agreement.
An arbitration agreement can change where a claim is heard, not necessarily whether you have one. It is worth reviewing before assuming it closes the door.
I still work there.
You can ask questions while still employed. Retaliating against a worker for asserting wage rights may itself be unlawful.
Some of the work happened before or after my shift.
Time an employer knows or should know is being worked, including pre-shift and post-shift tasks, may be compensable.
Craig J. Ackermann
Shareholder · Admitted in Texas
Craig Ackermann represents Texas employees in harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wage matters. He is licensed in California, Washington, and Texas.
Read Craig's full bio →Selected wage-and-hour class and representative action results.
$17M
Health-care workforce · approximately 30,000 workers · Meal and rest break class action
Proposed settlement · preliminary approval granted
$16M
Health-care workforce · approximately 23,900 workers · Meal and rest break class action
Final approval
$14M
Grocery workforce · California · Rest break PAGA settlement
Final · co-lead counsel
$10.94M
Health-care workforce · approximately 11,600 workers · Meal break class action
Final approval
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different; the value and outcome of your matter will depend on its specific facts.
What happens after you reach out?
You don't need documents, a lawyer-ready story, or even certainty that what happened was illegal.
- 01
Talk with us
A short initial conversation about what happened and when.
- 02
We assess the record
We identify possible claims, deadlines and evidence that may matter.
- 03
If we take the case
We handle the filing strategy, negotiations and litigation.
Deadlines can depend on where and how you file
Texas and federal claims may follow different filing routes. These are general time limits, not sequential steps.
Generally, to file a Texas Payday Law wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission.
Generally, for a federal FLSA claim.
Generally, for a federal FLSA claim based on a willful violation.
Other claims and exceptions may have different or shorter deadlines. Contact counsel promptly so the applicable dates can be reviewed.
Fair Labor Standards Act and Texas Payday Law
29 U.S.C. §§ 201–219; Tex. Lab. Code ch. 61
Primary source, 29 U.S.C. §§ 201–219; Tex. Lab. Code ch. 61 ↗Share what happened in about two minutes. The firm will review your submission and contact you about possible options and next steps. There is no cost or obligation to request a review.
Deadlines and filing issues for workers in Dallas.
- A Texas Payday Law wage claim runs 180 days from the date each disputed payment was due, not from the day you noticed, so the oldest wages owed can fall away while you wait.
- The FLSA runs on a separate clock: two years to sue for unpaid overtime or minimum wage, and three years if the violation was willful, with each payday capable of starting its own period.
- Because Texas has no daily overtime and no required breaks, most Dallas overtime claims turn on crossing forty hours in a single workweek under the FLSA, how the workweek is defined and counted can decide the case.
- A salary, a manager title, or a signed 1099 agreement does not settle whether you were owed overtime; the actual duties performed and the governing federal test control.
- Final pay has its own timing rule, wages are due by the sixth calendar day after a discharge and by the next regular payday after a resignation, and a late final check is a Texas Payday Law matter, not an overtime one.
Where do you file a wage and hour claim in Dallas?
Texas Workforce Commission Wage and Hour Department
Wage and Hour Department101 East 15th Street, Room 514
Austin, TX 78778
1-800-832-9243
A Texas Payday Law claim may be filed online or submitted on the official wage-claim form. TWC wage claims generally must be filed within 180 days after the wages were due.
State wage-claim filing →U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Dallas District Office
Serves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and north and east Texas, with field offices in Abilene, Longview, Texarkana, Tyler, Waco, and Wichita Falls.
1701 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 270Arlington, TX 76006
(817) 861-2150 WHD complaint / inquiry form →
Dallas County Civil District Courts
George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Building600 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75202
The filing path, step by step
- 1Preserve time records, pay stubs, schedules, your offer letter or written pay policy, texts about work before or after a shift, and your own honest estimate of the hours you actually worked.
- 2For unpaid overtime or a minimum-wage shortfall, the federal FLSA is the route, contact the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division through its online complaint form, by phone, or through the Dallas District Office at 1701 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 270, in Arlington.
- 3For the timing or payment of wages, a late or bounced final check, promised commissions or bonuses left unpaid, or deductions you never authorized in writing, file a Texas Payday Law wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days of the date the wages were due.
- 4Texas has no state overtime law and no mandatory meal or rest breaks, so a lawyer can determine whether the FLSA, the Texas Payday Law, or a collective or class action best fits the pay practice affecting you and your coworkers.
Asked by Dallas workers.
I'm salaried at a Dallas company but do the same work as the hourly staff, can I still be owed overtime?
Possibly. A salary and a title do not create an FLSA exemption on their own; the actual duties, salary level, and discretion do. Texas has no separate state overtime law, so the federal test controls. Keep your schedules and a description of what you do in a typical week.
My Dallas employer paid my last check late, or hasn't paid it at all. What can I do?
That is a Texas Payday Law question. Texas requires final wages by the sixth calendar day after a discharge, and by the next regular payday after a resignation. You can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission within 180 days of the date the pay was due.
Do Texas workers get daily overtime or paid meal and rest breaks?
No. Texas has no state law requiring daily overtime, meal breaks, or rest breaks. Most Dallas overtime claims rely on the federal FLSA, which generally requires overtime pay only after forty hours in a single workweek. If break pay was promised by policy or contract, that can be a separate wage question.
Should I contact the Texas Workforce Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor?
They cover different things. The Texas Workforce Commission enforces the Texas Payday Law, the timing and payment of wages, deductions, and final pay. The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division enforces the FLSA, federal overtime and minimum wage. Some facts support both routes, but their deadlines and remedies differ.