Wage theft allegations stuck in limbo
State investigators facing a backlog of hundreds of cases
Approximately 1,000 worker complaints submitted to the state’s Department of Labor — including allegations of wage theft — have not been assigned to an investigator, up from just over 100 pending cases in late 2020, according to state officials.
Some investigations are taking months to begin, causing workers seeking relief to go longer without their owed wages.
“I would’ve used the money for rent and food,” said Alida Arreaga, a Hartford woman from Guatemala who said she’s still owed about $1,300 from the restaurant she worked in last year.
Arreaga went to the state labor department’s headquarters last week to submit her complaint, and while filling out the required forms in the building’s lobby, she told The Connecticut Mirror in Spanish that she received checks from her boss that didn’t include pay for all the hours she worked. She said she reached out to her supervisor to get her money but was met with excuses and eventual non-responsiveness. Her recent complaint could take anywhere from four to eight months to begin being processed.
“One comes here [the U.S.] and sees that people can do more for themselves, and I want that too. So here we are,” Arreaga told the CT Mirror. She also shared her story with legislators on the Labor and Public Employees Committee in a public hearing.
But before her case is looked at, investigators at the Department of Labor have another 1,000 complaints to sift through. In March 2023, there were just under 800 pending cases, while in late 2020, there were 117.
“Speed is key. It’s essential. Having the ability to act properly on a newly filed claim means we can confront the issues and prevent them from continuing,” said Emilio Theodoratos, a wage enforcement agent at the Department of Labor who testified at the public hearing.
“These backlogs not only represent delays in workers seeking remedies but also delays in employers understanding their responsibilities,” said Theodoratos.
The backlog has multiple causes. There have been at least 1,800 complaints each year since 2019. Meanwhile, the unit’s staff has dropped. Ten years ago, in 2014, there were 42 staff members, including 31 wage enforcement agents and wage and hour investigators combined. This year, 30 total staff members remain, with 21 agents or investigators. The rest of the staff is clerical or managerial.
The investigators are part of a specialized unit known as the Wage and Workplace Standards Division. State law allows them to enter any business or worksite and examine payroll documents, accounting books and any other records of transactions to ensure that businesses are following the law. If they receive a worker complaint, they can also interview other employees, call hearings, administer oaths, take testimony under oath and take depositions. These investigations can eventually lead to civil penalties, stop work orders or even arrest warrants. Each complaint varies in complexity, and investigators have to be well-versed in the legal intricacies of wage and hour laws, as they enforce over 160 general statutes and administrative regulations.
A proposal this year could require the number of investigators to increase. Theodoratos and Arreaga were testifying at Tuesday’s public hearing in support of a bill that would require the labor department to staff at least 22 investigators by October 2024 and at least 45 by the end of fiscal year 2026. The bill was introduced in last year’s legislative session, but it didn’t survive the Appropriations Committee amid competing interests. This year, the bill’s future is uncertain as it faces a shorter timeframe to pass than last year and the budget has added financial constraints.
Regardless, supporters of the bill testified in-person in Hartford, online and through written testimony to urge legislators to consider passing it this year, including members from organizations including Hartford Deportation Defense, Unidad Latina en Acción, Connecticut AFL-CIO, the Connecticut Worker Center, NOSOTRAS, the Naugatuck Valley Project, Working Families Power, the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Connecticut and She Leads Justice.
“Two years ago, a contractor abused me and 20 other workers. During the whole time we worked with him, he never paid us overtime, and some of us worked 60-73 hours per week. On top of that, he stopped paying us the final weeks,” said Bella Vasquez from Unidad Latina en Acción, who worked in the construction industry. “I am a single mother and I have to support my two minor children who depend on me. Since I did not get paid for several weeks and I did not work for a while, I had to ask for a loan with very high interest that I am still paying today.”
Carla Esquivel, a member of NOSOTRAS, testified that she wasn’t even paid $2 an hour at one point as a nanny.
“I worked from 6 in the morning to 10 at night. Now I am dedicated to educating immigrant workers about their rights … I would like to change the laws to make sure my history does not repeat itself. We are thousands and thousands in this state experiencing modern day slavery. We all deserve to work and live in safety and dignity, and this legislation ensures that no one is left behind,” said Esquivel.
Theodoratos, the wage enforcement agent, said cases where immigrants are being exploited are common.
“They’re afraid to enter claims and fear being deported. It’s unfortunate, but we are their voice as well. So we don’t want them to be afraid. We want them to be able to come to us,” he said.
The struggle over passing the bill deals with the cost of hiring additional staff and whether there’s space in the budget. Most of the investigator positions are funded by the state’s general fund, but some positions are funded from the civil penalties the investigators impose on guilty businesses, which range anywhere from $300 to $1,000, depending on the violations. From 2019 to 2022, the team imposed $4 million in civil penalties on businesses around the state that committed labor violations such as not keeping wage records or not paying overtime.
“These workers at the wage and hour division are budget positive with the fines they bring in. They actually bring in more money than we pay them. There is no legitimate excuse as to why we should not have an army of them out there,” said Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, in an interview.
Hawthorne also testified in support of the bill and posed the following question to legislators: “If I walked up to every one of you and stole all the money you have in your wallet, and you went to the police, and they said it would take four to six months to investigate that theft, would that be acceptable? Pretty sure the answer is no. But that’s exactly what we’re dealing with with wage-theft investigators now.”
After his testimony, he was met with skepticism from Rep. Tim Ackert, R-coventry.
“It shouldn’t have to be a bill. It should just be an executive branch action requesting that we expand these departments. What are your thoughts on that?” said Ackert.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s adjusted budget for the year did not include increased funding for this investigative unit.
“Gov. Lamont understands the concerns of those who want the state to hire additional inspectors to accelerate the review of complaints related to wage and hour laws, especially because many of the workers who are being unfairly denied earnings by their employers need these wages to support their families,” said Lamont spokesman David Bednarz. “That being said, any increase in staffing levels at any state agency needs to be combined with an adjustment in the budget to ensure that the funds are available for these new workers themselves to be paid, and this adjustment would have to be included as part of a final budget deal.”
Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo did not make any mention of support or opposition to increased funding to this unit through her written testimony or in an in-person presentation to the Appropriations Committee this year where comments were being heard about Lamont’s proposed adjusted-budget.
The Department of Labor said it supports Lamont’s statement.