Official Site of The State of New JerseyOur commitment to protecting the rights of all New Jersey workers
The New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) is committed to serving all of New Jersey’s workers and businesses to advance labor standards in our state.
Immigrants and refugees are welcome in New Jersey. NJDOL is committed to serving all of New Jersey’s workers and businesses to advance labor standards in our state. NJDOL offers free services to all people regardless of their immigration status.
- NJDOL is a department of the State of New Jersey and is separate from the federal government.
- NJDOL will not share any information from an investigation with any federal immigration agency, unless legally required to do so.
- NJDOL employees do not ask about immigration or citizenship status and serve all workers regardless of immigration status.
Regardless of where you live, if you work in New Jersey, your labor standards rights include the right to:
- Earn at least the New Jersey minimum wage;
- Be paid for every hour that you work;
- Paid sick time to care for yourself or a family member;
- The correct employment status; workers misclassified as independent contractors or paid off the books can be improperly denied the above rights and other NJ state benefits;
- The prevailing wage for publicly funded projects such as schools; and
- Report to NJDOL if you believe your employer has violated your rights.
New Jersey laws protect workers who report labor standards violations from retaliation. It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against a worker in the following ways:
- Informing or threatening to inform immigration authorities that a worker or a worker’s family member is undocumented;
- Filing a false report with a government agency; and
- Terminating or demoting a worker.
While NJDOL cannot guarantee that a worker will not experience retaliation for contacting us with a labor standards complaint, we do enforce penalties on employers who retaliate against employees.
If you feel like you have experienced retaliation or a labor standards violation, or if you have questions about your rights, contact NJDOL at 609-292-2305.
If you are a business with questions about labor standards compliance, contact NJDOL at 609-292-2305.
- What to Do If Immigration Comes to your Workplace (available in English, Spanish, Thai, Korean, and Chinese), produced by the National Immigration Law Center and National Employment Law Project
- Immigrant Trust Directive by the Attorney General of New Jersey
Other organizations that we have worked with that may provide assistance if you have questions about your rights or obligations:
- Make the Road New Jersey: 908-368-1196
- New Labor: 973-991-1845 or 732-246-2900
Legal Services:
- For free legal services, DACA help, or immigrant rights organizations near you, see the NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice
If you have questions about New Jersey’s labor standards and your rights, please contact NJDOL at myworkrights.nj.gov or call 609-292-2305.
File a wage claim | Presentar un reclamo de salario
If you worked in New Jersey and you believe that your employer has not properly paid you, or if you have a complaint against an employer for violating a NJ Labor Law enforced by Wage & Hour, you must file a wage claim in order to start the process.
You can file a claim:
If you choose to file anonymously, you must do so by mail. However, claims filed anonymously can not be tracked, so you will not be able to get status updates about your claim. Neither you nor anyone else will receive any information about the claim unless a resolution is reached with your employer and wages due are sent as part of the resolution.
If you are not sure whether the Division of Wage & Hour Compliance will be able to help you with your claim, read our Frequently Asked Questions or contact us for help.
