How Do I File a Complaint Against an Employer in NY?

To file a complaint against an employer in NY, you send your complaint to the state agency that handles your specific type of violation: the Division of Human Rights for discrimination, the Department of Labor for wage problems, and OSHA or PESH for unsafe conditions. Each agency has its own form, its own deadline, and its own process. Picking the wrong one can cost you weeks while the deadline keeps running.

Which Agency Handles Your Complaint

Three categories cover almost every workplace complaint in New York, and each goes to a different place.

Discrimination, Harassment, or Retaliation

The New York State Division of Human Rights handles complaints about being treated differently because of who you are. The state Human Rights Law recognizes 19 protected characteristics, broader than federal law: age, race, creed or religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, military status, marital status, familial status, arrest and conviction record, citizenship or immigration status, status as a domestic violence victim, predisposing genetic characteristics, and reproductive health decisions.¹ Retaliation for opposing discriminatory practices also falls under DHR authority.²

If you work in New York City, you have a second option: the NYC Commission on Human Rights, which enforces the city’s own human rights law. You can reach the Commission by calling 311 or (212) 416-0197 to schedule an intake appointment.

Unpaid Wages and Hour Violations

When your employer shorts your paycheck, the New York State Department of Labor’s Division of Labor Standards is where you file. This covers unpaid wages for hours you actually worked, bounced paychecks, minimum wage violations, unpaid overtime for hours over 40 in a week, illegal deductions, withheld tips, and unpaid benefits the employer promised, such as vacation pay, holiday pay, or bonuses.³ The Division also handles complaints about missed meal breaks, missing days of rest, and improper pay stubs.

The Division will not accept every claim. It cannot take cases for wages earned more than three years ago.³ Sales commission disputes follow a separate set of rules under the Labor Law, so the standard wage claim process may not apply.

Workplace Safety and Health

Safety complaints split by sector. Private sector employees file with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which covers most private employers in all 50 states.⁴ Public sector employees in New York, including state, county, town, and village government workers, school district employees, public authority staff, and firefighters, file instead with the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau (PESH), run by the NYS Department of Labor.⁵

Filing Deadlines

Missing a deadline can end an otherwise strong complaint, so check these dates before anything else.

Discrimination (DHR): For discriminatory acts on or after February 15, 2024, three years from the most recent act. For acts before that date, the deadline was one year.⁶
Wage claims (DOL): Three years from the date the wages were earned.³
Workplace safety (OSHA): Less than six months. OSHA cannot issue violations for incidents that occurred more than six months earlier.⁷
OSHA retaliation: 30 days from when you learned of the retaliatory action.⁸
PESH retaliation: Public sector employees must file within 30 days of the retaliatory action.⁵

The 30-day retaliation window is the one that catches people out. If your employer fires you or cuts your hours after you report a safety hazard, a month goes by fast, especially when you’re dealing with the fallout.

What to Gather Before You File

Agencies assess complaints on the evidence you supply up front. A thin filing gets a thin response.

Start with the basics: your full legal name, address, and phone number, plus your employer’s correct legal name (which may differ from the brand on the sign), business address, and phone number. For wage claims, add your job title, rate of pay, and how you were paid: hourly, salary, or piece rate.

Then build a timeline. Write down every relevant incident in order: dates, times, locations, what happened, who was involved, and who witnessed it. Include names and job titles. Investigations run off this kind of detail, and vague accounts get deprioritized. Do this while events are fresh; memory degrades quickly, and reconstructing six months later is painful and less credible.

Gather every document that supports your account:

Pay stubs and time records, essential for wage claims and useful in discrimination cases to show changes in hours or pay after a complaint.
Employment contracts and offer letters, which establish what was promised.
Emails, texts, and messages with supervisors, HR, or coworkers that document what was said and when.
The company handbook or policy documents, which show whether the employer followed its own rules.
Photos or videos, particularly relevant for safety complaints.
Personal notes written at the time, which carry more weight than recollections written later.

You do not need an attorney to file with any of these agencies. The process is designed for individuals to use directly. For cases involving substantial lost wages, termination, or complex discrimination patterns, a consultation is worth the time. Many employment attorneys offer free initial consultations and work on contingency, typically 30% to 40% of what you recover.

How to File With Each Agency

Discrimination With the DHR

The DHR offers three ways to report. The quickest is the call center at (844) 697-3471, where an agent takes the details and submits a report on your behalf. You can also complete the online discrimination reporting form and submit it electronically, or download the printable form and mail it in.⁶ After your initial report, the DHR determines whether your experience is covered by the Human Rights Law and, if so, helps you file a formal complaint.

Wage Claims With the DOL

Wage claims use Form LS223, the Labor Standards Complaint Form. Upload the completed form through the DOL’s website or mail it to the Division of Labor Standards at the Harriman State Office Campus in Albany.³ If you need help completing the form, call 888-525-2267. The DOL also accepts claims for failure to provide proper pay notices and for retaliation over a Labor Law complaint.⁹

Safety Complaints With OSHA or PESH

Private sector employees file with OSHA online using the complaint form on OSHA’s website, or download the form and fax or mail it to the nearest regional office.⁷ You can also call OSHA directly. Signed, written complaints are more likely to trigger an on-site inspection than anonymous tips.

Public sector employees file with PESH through the Department of Labor’s website, by email at ask.shnypesh@labor.ny.gov, or by calling 1-844-SAFE-NYS (1-844-723-3697).⁵ PESH responds to employee complaints, workplace accidents that hospitalize two or more employees, and fatalities.

If You Also Want a Federal Discrimination Filing

New York’s Division of Human Rights is a Fair Employment Practices Agency with a worksharing agreement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a discrimination complaint with the DHR can automatically create a parallel filing with the EEOC, and the reverse also works. When you file with the DHR and your allegation is also covered by federal law, the DHR dual-files with the EEOC but typically keeps the case. If you file first with the EEOC and the charge is also covered by state law, the EEOC dual-files with the DHR and ordinarily keeps the case.¹⁰

This matters because federal and state law do not cover identical ground. Federal Title VII protections require at least 15 employees; New York’s Human Rights Law applies more broadly. If you want both state and federal options preserved, confirm the dual-filing with the agency at the time you file. For EEOC charges specifically, the filing deadline extends to 300 calendar days in states like New York that have a FEPA enforcing similar protections.¹¹

One further federal point: if you eventually want to file a discrimination lawsuit in federal court under Title VII or the Americans with Disabilities Act, you first need a Notice of Right to Sue from the EEOC. The EEOC generally must have 180 days to work the charge before issuing one. Age discrimination claims under the ADEA do not require this letter; you can file a federal lawsuit 60 days after submitting your EEOC charge.¹²

Retaliation Protections

Fear of retaliation is the reason most workplace violations go unreported, so it helps to know that New York law specifically prohibits it. Under Labor Law Section 740, your employer cannot fire you, demote you, suspend you, or take any other negative action against you for reporting an activity you reasonably believe violates the law or poses a real danger to public health or safety. The protection also covers employees who provide information to a government investigation or refuse to participate in illegal activity.¹³

There is one important condition. Before going to an outside agency, the law generally expects you to first raise the issue with a supervisor and give the employer a reasonable chance to fix it. That requirement goes away if there is an imminent danger, if reporting internally would lead to destruction of evidence, if the situation involves a child’s welfare, if you would face physical harm, or if your supervisor already knows about the problem.¹³

If your employer retaliates anyway, a court can order reinstatement, back pay, restoration of benefits and seniority, attorney’s fees, and a civil penalty of up to $10,000.¹³ Separate retaliation protections exist under OSHA for safety complaints, with the 30-day window noted above, and under the Human Rights Law for discrimination-related complaints.

What Happens After You File

The agency confirms receipt and assigns a case number. Keep that number for every future communication. Agencies handle enormous caseloads, and not having it ready when you call means getting bounced around.

The agency first reviews whether the complaint falls within its authority and whether the facts you have described, taken at face value, state a valid claim. If the issue belongs elsewhere, you will be told and hopefully pointed in the right direction. Incomplete filings stall here. If the agency cannot tell from your submission what happened or when, it may ask for more information before proceeding.

Once accepted, the agency notifies your employer of the allegations and begins investigating. An investigator may contact you and your employer, request documents, and interview witnesses. This can take months, depending on the agency’s backlog and the complexity of the case.

1
Division of Human Rights. Protected Characteristics
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Division of Human Rights. Homepage
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Department of Labor. Unpaid/Withheld Wages and Wage Supplements
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Am I Covered by OSHA
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Department of Labor. Public Employee Safety and Health
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Division of Human Rights. Report Discrimination
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. File a Complaint
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U.S. Department of Labor. Safety and Health Standards – Occupational Safety and Health
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Department of Labor. File a Labor Standards Wage Theft Claim
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Dual Filing
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After You Have Filed a Charge
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New York State Senate. New York Labor Law LAB 740 – Retaliatory Action by Employers Prohibition