By A Pennsylvania appellate court has ruled that employees now have three years, not six, to sue over unpaid minimum wages or overtime under state law. The Commonwealth Court issued the decision on Oct. 21 in Commonwealth Department of Labor and Industry v. Accuserv Pharmacy, Inc., according to HRMorning.
The case involved 20 pharmacy employees seeking overtime for work performed from 2017 to 2019. The employers argued the claims were filed too late. The trial court had applied a six-year default deadline for lawsuits without a set limit. The Commonwealth Court disagreed and applied the three-year deadline from the Wage Payment and Collection Law to claims brought under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act. The court also cited Pennsylvania’s requirement that employers keep time and pay records for three years.
Why the deadline changed
The Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act does not set its own statute of limitations for wage lawsuits. Before this ruling, courts often treated unpaid wage claims as breach of contract actions, which carry a six-year deadline under Pennsylvania law. That approach gave workers a relatively long window to pursue back pay.
The Commonwealth Court took a different view. It looked to the Wage Payment and Collection Law, a separate Pennsylvania statute governing how and when wages must be paid. That law has a three-year limitations period. By borrowing that deadline for minimum wage and overtime claims under the PMWA, the court aligned state wage claims with the recordkeeping period Pennsylvania already imposes on employers.
The ruling does not affect federal Fair Labor Standards Act claims. FLSA claims have their own deadlines: two years generally, or three years for willful violations. A worker pursuing both state and federal claims may face different cutoffs depending on which law applies and when the alleged violation occurred.
What this means for HR and payroll teams
For employers, the shorter window reduces exposure to older claims. A worker who alleges underpayment from four or five years ago may no longer be able to bring a state law claim in Pennsylvania. That changes risk calculations for payroll audits, compliance reviews, and settlement discussions.
The decision also reinforces the importance of retaining payroll records for at least three years. Pennsylvania already requires employers to keep time and pay records for that period. With the statute of limitations now matching the recordkeeping requirement, employers that maintain complete records for three years should have the documentation needed to defend against most state wage claims.
HR teams should review how long payroll data, time sheets, and wage deduction authorizations are stored. Deleting records at the three-year mark may be tempting, but employers with multi-state operations should check each state’s rules. Some states require longer retention periods or have longer statutes of limitations for wage claims.
What workers with older claims should know
The practical effect of the ruling is significant for anyone who believes they were underpaid between three and six years ago. Under the old six-year window, a worker underpaid in January 2023 would have had until January 2029 to file. Under the new three-year rule, that same worker’s deadline may have already passed.
Workers with potential claims should determine the exact date of the last alleged violation. The deadline generally runs from when the wages were due, not from when the worker discovered the underpayment. Anyone with a claim that is between three and six years old should consult a Pennsylvania wage and hour lawyer promptly. The ruling may be appealed, but waiting for an appeal is risky if the three-year deadline is approaching.
The decision does not appear to address retroactivity directly in the facts reported. Whether the three-year deadline applies to claims that accrued before the ruling is a question courts may need to resolve. Workers should not assume an older claim is automatically barred or automatically preserved.
How Pennsylvania wage law fits together
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal rate. Tipped employees have a minimum cash wage of $2.83 per hour with a tip credit. Overtime is calculated at 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Pennsylvania does not require daily overtime.
The state does not mandate holiday pay, sick leave, vacation pay, or severance pay under its general wage laws. Final wages must be paid by the next regular payday. Certain wage deductions require written authorization.
Local ordinances add requirements in specific areas. Philadelphia has a ban the box law governing criminal background checks. Pittsburgh has a paid sick days ordinance. Allegheny County will require paid parental leave for larger private employers starting in 2027, according to elinfonet.com.
The three-year deadline ruling is a state law development. Employers and workers should confirm how it applies to their specific situation with qualified counsel, particularly where claims span multiple years or involve both state and federal law.
Sources: HRMorning
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