How to File a Wage Claim in New Jersey
New Jersey wage claims go to the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance — online through the secure claim system, or by mail or fax. Anonymous filing exists, but only by mail, and it cannot be tracked and gets no status updates. Retaliation is illegal, including retaliation by immigration threats, false reports, or termination.
The New Jersey claim in one table
| Item | New Jersey rule |
|---|---|
| Agency | Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, Department of Labor and Workforce Development |
| Online filing | Secure claim system at wagehour.dol.state.nj.us |
| Mail and fax | MW-31A Wage Complaint form; fax 609-695-1174 |
| Phone | 609-292-2305 |
| Anonymous filing | Mail only; untrackable, no status updates |
| Coverage | All workers, including undocumented workers |
| Retaliation | Illegal, including immigration threats, false reports, termination, demotion |
| Worker-rights hub | myworkrights.nj.gov |
The claim, step by step
- Choose the channel. Online through the secure system for a trackable claim, or mail or fax with form MW-31A (revision 5/25). Anonymous filers must use mail and accept that the claim cannot be tracked and no status updates will come.
- Complete the complaint. The MW-31A form carries the Division's contact block — phone 609-292-2305, fax 609-695-1174 — and the OPRA confidentiality note. Provide the employer's details, the work and pay record, and the amount claimed with its breakdown.
- File and keep proof. Keep a copy of everything filed and the proof of mailing or the online confirmation. The Division's process runs from the filed complaint; a claim filed without proof of filing is hard to chase.
- Do not tolerate retaliation. Report any retaliation — threats, false reports, demotion, termination — to the Division. The protection covers filing and assisting a claim, and it covers all workers.
What this guide does not state
No filing deadline, no recovery cap, and no decision timeline is stated here, because the Department pages opened for this guide do not state them. Older secondary and FAQ sources cite a $30,000 Wage Collection proceeding limit, a 10-day acknowledgment, and a six-year recovery period. None of those figures is carried, because none was verified on an nj.gov page in this run. The deadlines guide states the same restraint: where the agency page is silent, the guide says so rather than repeating a secondary figure as a deadline.
For other states, see the Wage Claim Filing by State directory.
Source
Sources: New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Our Commitment to NJ Workers (online claim system, mail and fax filing, anonymous-by-mail rule, retaliation protections, phone 609-292-2305, myworkrights.nj.gov), read 2026-11-01; New Jersey Wage Complaint form MW-31A, revision 5/25 (Division contact block, fax number, all-workers coverage, OPRA note), read 2026-11-01 via search result. Facts verified 2026-11-01. Open flags: the $30,000 proceeding limit, 10-day acknowledgment, and six-year recovery figures are secondary-only and are not carried; the MW-31A form was read via a search-result summary and is flagged for a full-form re-read at the next pass.
This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to your state labor agency or a lawyer.
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