KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The United States Department of Labor said companies in Tennessee owe workers and former employees millions of dollars in unpaid wages.
The department said around 3,000 Tennesseans are entitled to about $2 million from garnered wages. Rachel Mast-Matos, who works with the U.S. Department of Labor, said her division investigates labor law violations and reveals the millions owed to workers.
"We're here today really trying to spread the word about the wages that we have for workers," said Mast-Matos. "Those include the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs minimum wage, overtime and child labor requirements among others."
She works with the Wage and Hour Division, which usually starts investigations into companies after employees file complaints. She said investigations are confidential and can take months to complete.
"When we recover wages on behalf of workers, sometimes workers' addresses have changed, or they've moved jobs and we're not able to locate them," said Mast-Matos.
Owed wages range from less than $100 to more than $400,000 in East Tennessee, according to the division. People can find out if they qualify online, through the department's website.
They can type the name of a former employer and if there are wages recovered as a result of an investigation, the worker will be prompted to enter their name. After that, if they are owed wages, the website will prompt them to enter additional information to start the process of recovering the money they're owed.