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We Combat Wage Theft with Community Partners

JOINT EFFORT | Representatives from the Denver Auditor’s Office and El Centro de los Trabajadores. (Photo/ Auditor’s Office)

the Auditor at your service

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

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Wage theft is a persistent social problem in Denver. Every day, my Denver Labor team receives multiple complaints about workers who were denied the wages and benefits they were entitled to, and many of those come from the Hispanic or Latino communities.

Despite Denver’s legal protections, too many people suffer wage violations who may not have a real ability to enforce their wage rights — especially the most vulnerable workers. Some of them are afraid of retaliation. Others think they don’t have a voice or any protections because of their immigration status. Because of this, it is unreasonable to expect that individual workers will file complaints or lawsuits in large numbers.

Although any worker can submit a wage complaint to us, even anonymously, we need to rely on community outreach and partnerships to reach out to those who don’t know or trust the government. To remediate this, I have built a dedicated team that has established partnerships with stakeholders such as the Consulate General of Mexico, the Consulate General of El Salvador, the Consulate General of Guatemala, and the Consulate General of Peru. This means these consulates can speak directly to immigrant workers and submit their wage theft cases to us on behalf of them.

We Combat Wage Theft with Community Partners

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

We Combat Wage Theft with Community Partners

Partnership with El Centro de los Trabajadores

We are also honored to work with renowned community organizations in Denver. Recently, we signed a collaboration agreement with El Centro de los Trabajadores to educate and protect community members about their wage rights regardless of their country of origin or immigration status. This partnership is one important step in building more trust between the local government and the immigrant community that recently arrived in our city and ensuring they get paid a legal and promised wage for their hard work.

You will also see my team at many large citywide events. You can meet our bilingual staff members in person at events like Cinco de Mayo, Denver PrideFest, and the Global Fest in Aurora.

I know these efforts make a difference. Through the division’s community engagement, we learn about violations and connect with workers who would otherwise not have filed a complaint with us. As a result, we see significant increases in the number of workers we help, the number of cases we close after finding violations, and the amount of money we recover for workers.