English

Wage theft experts call for more resources in Denver

the Auditor at your service

Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, Auditor of Denver

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My Denver Labor team is a national leader in fighting wage theft, and they recently teamed up with Workplace Justice Lab@Rutgers University’s to estimate the incidence of minimum wage violations in Denver.

The new research from Workplace Justice Lab@Rutgers University released this month found that tens of thousands of workers in the Denver metro area are paid below the minimum wage each year — and Denver Labor needs more resources to take action and address the harms of this injustice.

The study found at least 45,000 workers a year were paid below the minimum wage in the Denver metro area from 2007 through 2022 — with the numbers sharply increasing even higher than that since 2020.

To compare, in 2023 Denver Labor used all its resources to recover restitution and damages for about 1,850 minimum wage workers —just a fraction of the estimated number of minimum wage theft victims.

Wage theft experts call for more resources in Denver

Rutgers estimates the scope of the problem is much larger than previously known; their research suggests underpaid workers on average lost at least $136 million a year, or nearly $3,000 per worker. But this number only includes minimum wage violations and not the broader range of wage theft violations Denver Labor is tasked with enforcing, including overtime and paid sick leave violations, which are covered by Denver’s new civil wage theft protections that just began last year.

My office recovers $500,000 for workers to start the year Auditor's Office Works for You

The study confirmed again what we already knew – wage theft disproportionately affects underrepresented people. Women, noncitizens, and people of color are more likely to experience minimum wage theft.

The research also shows minimum wage violation rates are highest in private households, food services and drinking places, personal and laundry services, accommodation, retail trade, and administrative support, among others — all industries Denver Labor has investigated previously.

Wage theft experts call for more resources in Denver

Wage theft harms the whole community. Lost wages mean money that isn’t going back into Denver’s economy through food and other grocery purchases, paying for shelter, and supporting local businesses. It also reflects an extraordinary amount of money in unpaid taxes and insurance premiums that support the work of the city and the key social safety net programs we all rely on.

In my office, we are committed to continuing our work of strategic and active enforcement, in coordination with education efforts about wage theft throughout the community. But as the problem keeps growing, I call on all city leaders to continue allocating the resources needed to help every victim in the city. My team needs more capacity to fully address the underlying problem.