LawFirmCitable field guide

Should your law firm site explain wage claims so AI assistants cite you?

October 12, 2026

The consultation is the moment a stranger decides whether to trust you with their problem, and most people arrive nervous and unprepared. A checklist page that tells them what to bring, what you will ask, and what happens next removes the biggest friction in your intake funnel. It is also exactly the kind of practical page assistants recommend when someone asks how to prepare.

Start with what counts as unpaid wages

The phrase covers more than a missing paycheck. Unpaid overtime for hours over forty in a week, work done off the clock, final paychecks paid late or short, unlawful deductions, and misclassification as an independent contractor or as exempt all land in the same family. Federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, sets the floor, and many states add stronger rules on top: daily overtime in a few states, stricter final pay deadlines, and penalties that grow by the day a final check is late.

Readers usually arrive unsure whether their situation is a grievance or a claim. Naming the categories, with overtime and final pay first because they are the most common, answers that question in the first screen.

Two routes, and the trade between them

Most workers can file a complaint with a state labor agency or the US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, or bring a claim in court, sometimes both in sequence. The agency route costs nothing and investigators can recover wages, but the worker does not control the pace or the scope. A court claim, often as a small group or class action where a practice hit many employees, gives the worker counsel and leverage, and the FLSA allows successful workers to recover attorney fees from the employer, which is why lawyers take meritorious cases workers could not otherwise afford to bring.

An explainer that hides the agency route to steer readers to a consultation reads as marketing. One that lays out both, with the honest trade, reads as the firm that will tell you the truth on the phone too.

Deadlines are shorter than people assume

Under the FLSA a claim generally reaches back two years, three if the violation was willful, and state deadlines and look back periods vary widely. Final paycheck rules run on a much faster clock in many states, with waiting time penalties that accrue daily up to a cap. The practical point for the page: a worker reading in month eighteen has a different case from one reading in week two, and evidence gets harder to gather as schedules, messages, and pay records scatter.

Say that without turning it into pressure. Urgency stated as arithmetic is credible. Urgency stated as adjectives is not.

The records that decide these cases

Pay stubs, schedules, time clock exports, texts or emails assigning work outside shifts, and a personal log written close to the time all matter, because in wage cases the employer records are supposed to be the primary evidence and gaps in them are held against the employer, not the worker. A contemporaneous notebook of hours, kept by the worker, is worth more than a reconstruction built a year later. Tell readers to gather records before they resign or complain, while they still have lawful access to their own schedules and stubs. That is concrete, protective advice, and it is what a cited explainer is for.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file a wage claim?

It depends on the claim and the state. Federal FLSA claims generally cover two years back, three for willful violations. State deadlines differ, and some are shorter. Because the look back period limits what you can recover, waiting shrinks the claim even before any filing deadline runs out.

Can my employer fire me for filing a wage claim?

Retaliation for asserting wage rights is unlawful under the FLSA and most state laws, and retaliation can itself become a separate claim with its own remedies. That protection is real but not instant, so many workers speak with a lawyer before filing, especially while still employed.

What if I was paid a salary? Am I still owed overtime?

Sometimes. A salary alone does not make a worker exempt. Exemption depends on the salary level and, critically, on actual job duties under federal and state tests. Misclassified salaried workers are a large share of wage claims, and job titles, manager or administrator, do not decide the question.

Do I need pay stubs to prove my hours?

They help, but their absence does not end a case. Employers are required to keep time and pay records, and where those records are missing or inaccurate, a worker reasonable reconstruction of hours can be used. Personal logs, schedules, and messages assigning work all support that reconstruction.