How to File a Wage Claim in Wisconsin

The agency and the form

Wage claims in Wisconsin are filed with the Equal Rights Division of the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The filing document is the Labor Standards Complaint form, document number LS-119-E. The form page describes it as the form used to file a complaint on overtime, child labor, unpaid hours of work, one day of rest in seven, medical exams, minimum wage, street trades, deduction from wages, personnel records, seats for workers, severance pay, commissions, bonus pay, and vacation, holiday, or sick pay. The wage-claim types within that list are the subject of this guide; the non-wage complaint types on the same form are not covered here.

Form LS-119-E is available for online completion. If the filer is unable to submit online, the filer may download an electronic Microsoft Word template to fill out on a computer, or use the LS-119 English print version or the LS-119-S Spanish print version, which are not fill-enabled and should be printed and completed by hand. The online version requires a login. The form page calls the login a MyWisconsin ID login. The Division's online-filing steps page calls the same account a DWD ID. Both names appear on DWD pages, and both are recorded here rather than harmonized into one name. A filer should follow the login prompt the filing page itself presents.

The two-year deadline and the six-day request step

A claim for wages must be filed via the online complaint form or on the paper form within two years of the date the wages were scheduled to be paid. That is the deadline stated on the Division's wage claim page. The same page states that a wage claim may also be filed in court within two years of when the wages were earned and payable. The court route and the Division route carry the same two-year measure stated in different words: scheduled to be paid for the Division claim, earned and payable for the court claim. Both wordings are recorded as written.

Before filing, the worker should request payment. If the employer refuses to pay wages earned on the regular established payday, the worker should request payment. If the worker does not receive the payment after six days, the worker may file a claim with the Division. Once a claim is filed, the Division will seek to resolve the matter with the employer. The six-day step is a request step, not a filing deadline, and it must not be confused with the two-year filing window.

Who may file, and what claims the Division takes

Employees have the right to file a wage claim with the Division if there is a dispute with the employer in the amount of wages owed, or if an employer fails to pay the wages agreed upon for the time actually worked. Any current or former employee may file a wage claim against a place of employment alleging the employee has not been paid all agreed-upon wages, as the Division's labor standards complaint page states.

The Division may take action on wage claims for salaries, commissions, holiday pay, vacation pay, severance pay, dismissal pay, bonuses, illegal deductions, supplemental unemployment compensation benefits when required under a binding collective bargaining agreement, other similar advantages agreed upon between the employer and the employee, and other similar advantages provided by the employer as an established policy. Union members who wish to file wage claims are advised by the Division to file their claims with their local union representatives. No filing fee is stated on the Division pages opened for this guide, and none is asserted here.

A complaint must be written on a form available at any Division office or on any form acceptable to the Division, and must be signed by the employee filing it or by the employee's duly authorized representative, under the administrative rule DWD 224.03. The signature acknowledges that the filer has read the complaint, that to the best of the filer's knowledge, information, and belief the complaint is true and correct, and that the complaint is not being used for an improper purpose such as harassment. The Division will, on request, provide appropriate assistance in completing and filing complaints. The full field list of the LS-119-E form was not opened for this guide, and no field list is stated here beyond the form's subject list.

Filing routes and what happens next

The complaint may be filed online or on the paper form, to be mailed. The Division's wage claim page lists an online complaint form and a paper form under File a Complaint, and a Complaint Process link for more information. The Division's offices for mailed or faxed complaints under DWD 224.03 are the Equal Rights Division, 201 East Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53702, fax 608-267-4592, and the Equal Rights Division, 819 North 6th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53203, fax 414-227-4084. Those addresses are the rule's filing addresses for complaints generally. The wage claim page itself directs paper filers to the paper form to be mailed, and no mailing address is printed on the wage claim page text opened. A paper filer should use the mailing instructions on the paper form itself.

Once a claim is filed, the Division will seek to resolve the matter with the employer. No investigation timeline, decision form, or appeal step is stated on the Division pages opened for this guide, and none is stated here. Prevailing-wage complaints use a different form, the Prevailing Wage Complaint Form (ERD-9850), and must not be filed on LS-119-E. Retaliation complaints use form ERD-18359-E. Those forms are named here only to keep them apart from the wage claim form.

Comparing states, the Wage Claim Filing by State directory puts the state guides side by side.

Source

Sources: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division, How to File a Wage Claim (dwd.wisconsin.gov); Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, LS-119-E, Labor Standards Complaint (DWD.Wisconsin.gov). Facts verified 2026-11-03. Omitted or flagged: the full LS-119-E field list was not opened, so no fields are listed; no investigation timeline or appeal step is stated, because none appears on the pages opened; the online login is called MyWisconsin ID on the form page and DWD ID on the filing-steps page, and both names are recorded; no filing fee is stated, because none appears on the pages opened.

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 the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division.