In the bustling city of Denver, the fight against wage theft has reached a critical point, with experts now pushing for additional resources to effectively combat the issue. A recent study by the Workplace Justice Lab@Rutgers University has highlighted a worrying trend, an estimated 45,000 workers in the Denver metro area are paid below the minimum wage each year. Despite the best efforts of Denver Labor, which spearheads the fight locally, restitution was made to only about 1,850 minimum wage workers in 2023, as reported by the Denver Auditor's Office.
The impact of this discrepancy is felt not only by the victims of wage theft but the community as a whole. Denver Auditor Timothy M. O'Brien, CPA, said, as per the Denver Auditor's Office, "We’ve gotten better results than ever when it comes to wage theft restitution, but we as leaders in this community cannot rest on the beginnings of success when there are still thousands of people who need our help." The ripple effects of such wage discrepancies include less money circulating in the local economy and substantial amounts of unpaid taxes.
The study, taking into account federal data from 2007 through 2022, suggests that the underpaid workers in Denver lose an aggregate of at least $136 million a year. Jenn Round, director of the labor standards enforcement program at the Workplace Justice Lab said, as noted by the Denver Auditor's Office, "Enforcement is critical, and the results of this study suggest it is imperative that enforcement budgets and staff numbers continue to grow to ensure that Denver workers are paid what they are owed," she explained.
Wage theft has been found to disproportionately affect women, noncitizens, and people of color. The Rutgers study confirmed that women are roughly 50-60% more likely than men to experience a minimum wage violation. Latine workers are 70% more likely than White workers to experience a violation, with noncitizens being approximately 80% more likely to be underpaid. These figures suggest a deeply ingrained issue that cuts across various demographics, placing a heavier burden on the already underrepresented groups.
