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Work & WagesNot a law firm

Understand what happened. Find your next step.

When your hours and pay don’t line up, a short guide shows the four things to write down for your situation. Then you can bring them to a labor office or a lawyer you choose.

What brings you here?

Each opens a three‑minute guide. Nothing to fill in, and you don’t need to be sure it matters.

Work & Wages

3 guides

Not offered Consumer Rights (debt collectors, credit reports, unwanted calls). Where to go instead

Guides only, not legal advice. This site doesn’t connect anyone with a law firm.

Example Notes from the lunch guide (an illustration, not a real person’s situation)
Time record
Lunch time deducted on most shifts
What you were doing
Answering the front-desk phone
How often
About three days a week
Who knew
The shift lead

Each guide has its own four things to write down.

Nothing to sign up for

No forms, sign-ins, or names, and these pages don’t use ad tools. You can read without sharing anything.

Use a personal device

On a work phone, computer, or Wi-Fi, your employer’s systems may record the sites you visit.

You don’t need pay stubs

Write what you remember, whether or not you still work there, and mark estimates as estimates.

Work & Wages

Which of these sounds familiar?

More than one can fit the same job. Open each one that applies.

Lunch time · 3-min read

Worked through lunch, but the time was still taken off your hours?

For example:

  • You stayed on call, answered phones, or watched the floor during lunch, and the time was still deducted.
  • You couldn’t leave the station, the route, or the line during lunch, and the time still came off your hours.
  • You were pulled back to work during lunch, and the deduction stayed.

You’ll write down: time record · what you were doing · how often · who knew

Before or after your shift · 3-min read

Clocked out, but still working?

For example:

  • You stayed to finish charting, cleanup, or a last customer after you punched out.
  • Opening or closing took time before or after you punched.
  • You answered work texts, calls, or emails after your shift.

You’ll write down: what you did · how long it took · who asked or knew · what your time record shows

Not listed here?

You can also talk to a lawyer of your choice.

How these guides are written: in plain, everyday words, describing situations only. None of them says what the law requires. Last updated September 2026.

Three steps

From what happened to a next step

Each guide takes about three minutes to read, and nothing is sent anywhere.

  1. On this site

    Find your guide

    Pick the one closest to what happened: lunch time taken off your hours, long workweeks, or work before or after your shift.

  2. Your notes

    Write down four things

    Each guide lists four things to write down for that situation, such as what your records show and what you were doing. Use paper or your own phone.

  3. Your choice

    Bring your notes where you choose

    Each guide ends with places to bring your notes, like your state labor office, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, or a lawyer you choose.

Questions

Common questions

Plain answers about your privacy, the guides, and what ClearRecourse.com is.

Your privacy

What happens to my information?

This site doesn’t ask for any. There’s no form, quiz, upload, chat, or phone line here, and these pages don’t use Meta (Facebook) or other ad tools or send them anything.

If this site ever asks for information, a full privacy notice will be posted first. See Disclaimer & privacy.

Does anyone see my notes, or learn that I made them?

Not from this site. Your notes stay on your paper or your own phone, and you decide whether to share them, when, and with whom.

Will my employer know I visited?

Not from this site: it doesn’t ask for your name or your employer’s, and it doesn’t contact anyone. On a work phone, computer, or Wi-Fi, your employer’s own systems may record the sites you visit, so a personal device is a better choice, for your notes too.

About the guides

What will I have after reading a guide? Is it legal advice?

Your own notes, in your own words: the four things to write down for your situation, such as what your records show and what you were doing, and places you can bring them, like a labor office or a lawyer you choose.

A guide isn’t legal advice. It helps you sort out your own facts; it doesn’t say what the law requires. A lawyer of your choice can advise you.

What if it only happened now and then, or I’m not sure it matters?

You don’t need to be sure. Write down what you remember, including how often it happened, and mark estimates as estimates. A guide doesn’t decide whether it matters. Start with the guide closest to what happened.

Do I need pay stubs, or to still work there?

No. You can write down what you remember whether or not you still work there. Pay stubs, schedules, or work messages may help you remember details, but you don’t need them, and nothing is uploaded here.

About ClearRecourse.com

Why does ClearRecourse.com exist?

Because a pay problem is easier to explain once it’s written down.

ClearRecourse.com is a marketing and connection service, not a law firm. This website publishes guides only: it doesn’t collect names or contact details, so it has none to share, and it doesn’t connect anyone with a law firm. A participating attorney decides eligibility, deadlines, conflicts, and representation. How a connection is designed to work

What if none of these fits my situation or where I work?

You can still write it down the same way: what happened, when, how often, and who knew. Not seeing it here isn’t a judgment about your situation.

ClearRecourse.com is not a law firm, and this site doesn’t connect anyone with a law firm, for any situation or place. For pay questions, you can contact your state labor office or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (both on dol.gov). For debt collector or credit report questions, see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov); for unwanted calls, the national Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov). You can also talk to a lawyer of your choice.

Is ClearRecourse.com a law firm, and will anyone contact me?

No. ClearRecourse.com is not a law firm and doesn’t give legal advice. This site contacts no one and doesn’t book consultations, and submitting information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether to offer representation is always a lawyer’s decision.

Start with what you recognize.

Pick the situation that sounds closest. Each guide takes about three minutes and ends with places you can bring your notes.

How it works