Maryland workers are owed approximately $6.6 million. This money is back pay recovered for federal wage and hour violations. The U.S. Department of Labor is now seeking to return it to more than 4,000 workers and they have a limited time to do so.
Nick Fiorello, Baltimore’s district director with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, said they haven’t been able to return the money to wronged employees, because they’ve had difficulty finding them.
“Oftentimes, folks move on from address to address, and sometimes they don’t have forwarding addresses. And that’s the challenge we have. We also work with folks that come to the United States on temporary visas, and they return to their home countries,” said Fiorello.
And it’s a significant amount that remains unclaimed until the clock runs out.
“We have three years to locate workers. And if we can’t locate workers in those three years, we have to pass the money on to Department of Treasury,” Fiorello added.
This money is to compensate workers for federal wage and hour violations.