Anti-Wage-Theft Laws Are Kryptonite to Dishonest Bosses
The results are in on Denver’s pioneering anti-wage-theft law, which has already helped thousands of workers recover millions of dollars in stolen wages. Cities across America should follow suit and stop thieving employers in their tracks.
A worker fulfills orders at a Walmart store on November 24, 2023. (Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In January 2023, Denver passed a sweeping anti-wage-theft law to help workers reclaim stolen wages. In the fight to pass Resolution 22-1614, commonly known as the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance, local unions and labor advocacy groups squared off against the Denver Chamber of Commerce and business interests, who cynically claimed the bill’s “unintended consequences” would hurt workers as well as “minority- and women-owned businesses.” However, a recent report from the Labor Division of the Denver Auditor’s Office examining the impact of the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance disproves these claims and highlights the benefit of anti-wage-theft legislation to the working class.
According to Denver’s 2023 Annual Wage Theft Report, last year was the “most impactful in the Denver Labor Office’s history.” Between November 1, 2022, and October 21, 2023, the office helped over thirty-five hundred workers recoup $2 million in unpaid wages, an 85 percent increase from the year prior. What’s more, as this reporting period started before the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance was passed, it does not reflect the full potential of a full year’s worth of wage restitution.
The report attributes this success to four ways in which the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance empowered the Denver Labor Office:
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.