29 CFR § 825.401 - Filing a complaint with the Federal Government.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t29/s825.401"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "29 CFR § 825.401 - Filing a complaint with the Federal Government."
title_number: 29
title_name: "Labor"
section_number: "825.401"
section_name: "Filing a complaint with the Federal Government."
chapter_name: "WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "OTHER LAWS"
part_number: "825"
part_name: "THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "29 U.S.C. 2654; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note (Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990); and Pub. L. 114-74 at sec. 701."
regulatory_source: "78 FR 8902, Feb. 6, 2013, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "825"
---


# 825.401 Filing a complaint with the Federal Government.

(a) A complaint may be filed in person, by mail or by telephone, with the Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor. A complaint may be filed at any local office of the Wage and Hour Division; the address and telephone number of local offices may be found in telephone directories or on the Department's Web site.

(b) A complaint filed with the Secretary of Labor should be filed within a reasonable time of when the employee discovers that his or her FMLA rights have been violated. In no event may a complaint be filed more than two years after the action which is alleged to be a violation of FMLA occurred, or three years in the case of a willful violation.

(c) No particular form of complaint is required, except that a complaint must be reduced to writing and should include a full statement of the acts and/or omissions, with pertinent dates, which are believed to constitute the violation.

[78 FR 8902, Feb. 6, 2013, as amended at 82 FR 2230, Jan. 9, 2017]