Suing can be difficult and risky and portracted, depending on the country there will hopefully be an actual government body for dealing with exactly this kind of thing that you can complain to and they’ll investigate. Most businesses will shit their pants if you tell them that they must pay you or you will lodge a complaint with such a body and you can call their bluff. If they don’t back down even then, then lodge the complaint as there’s nothing to lose. You could try suing after that too, if unsatisfied with the result, though I don’t know if the unsatisfactory outcome of the complaint could prejudice that.

In Australia, that entity would be the Fair work Ombudsman. Not sure what that might be in other countries. I believe they can issue fines and they’ll take people to court for you if they think they have reasonable enough chance of success.

If this is in America file complaints with the federal department of labor and your state equivalent. They take this kind of thing seriously.

I left a job once because I had a timecard and proof in the system of when I worked but, the HR manager saw a truck like mine driving around town during the hours I was at work so she said I didn’t really work those hours. She even took a pictures of the 2013 4 door Dodge. Mine was a 98 single cab. They gave me 24hrs to “fix” my time card or they were going to fire me. So I quit on the spot and left my time card

The most common type of theft is wage theft