The plight of Florida's workforce has surfaced, with over 14,000 workers found to be owed in excess of $6.5 million in unpaid wages. According to a report by The Miami Herald, these earnings failed to make their way to the pockets of hard-working Floridians, who, it seems, have been shortchanged by their employers.

The U.S. Department of Labor, through grueling investigations, identified numerous businesses that have not adhered to federal wage laws. Interventions by the agency's Wage and Hour Division have managed to recover the funds, but reconnecting these lost wages with their rightful owners has proven to be a challenging task. As acting Wage and Hour District Director Lissette Vargas put it in a statement obtained by The Miami Herald, "people might have moved on to new jobs, and employers might not provide the most up-to-date complete contact information."

In an attempt to resolve this issue, the Department of Labor has established a Workers Owed Wages database. Impacted employees can easily check if they are eligible to receive back wages by searching for their employer's business. A CBS News Miami report points Florida workers towards this online tool to potentially claim what they are due.

To prevent the $6.5 million from slipping further away from workers, they are being urged to promptly check the database, enter their names, and upload the required documentation. It's a simple yet crucial process, as the Department of Labor will only safeguard these wages for a limited three-year period before they are turned over to the U.S. Treasury. "In the South Florida community, wage violations are most common among construction, restaurant, agriculture, care workers, and warehousing (shipping, receiving) workers," Vargas highlighted, as reported by The Miami Herald.

Assistance is not solely digital; workers can also contact the Wage and Hour Division via their hotline, 866-4US-WAGE, or visit local offices for hands-on help, as listed by CBS News Miami.