Pharmacy overtime fight halves Pennsylvania’s wage claim window

The court also held that the trial court should not have jumped straight to the six-year catch-all without first checking whether a closer fit existed among the more specific limitation periods available. 

The department had argued that minimum wage violations take longer to spot than straight non-payment, and that workers might need more than three years to realise something was wrong. The court was unconvinced, noting that wage calculations can be complex no matter the basis – statutory table, handshake, or written agreement. It also noted that the three-year deadline can be paused where an employer fails to post minimum wage requirements in the workplace, as the Act requires. 

One judge dissented. The dissent took the view that the Minimum Wage Act’s silence on a filing deadline was a deliberate legislative choice, not a gap to be filled by borrowing from another statute. The dissent would have kept the six-year window. 

For HR teams in Pennsylvania, the practical effect is immediate: the window for employees to chase unpaid overtime under the Minimum Wage Act is now three years from the date wages were due – and payroll record-retention obligations track that same timeline. 

No court has made a final determination on the underlying wage claims.