Denver wage theft unit sees rise in cases, especially in migrant community
Having worked in the construction industry for several years, Edgar Jauregui has met a lot of people and heard a lot of stories.
"They are willing to walk from their country all the way over here. You can tell they are going to do whatever it takes to change their lives," he said.
As a representative for the Southwest Mountain States Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents about 55,000 workers, he's also become an advocate for the immigrant community.
Recently, their concerns have centered largely around wage theft.
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"They don't get paid overtime after 40 hours and some other ones, they just don't get paid at all. And they keep working because they have a promise that they are going to be paid for the next week," Jauregui said.
Wage theft is the illegal practice of underpaying or not paying workers or providing benefits laid out in a contract or required by law.
In Denver complaints can be made both to the City Auditor's Office and the Denver City Attorney's office, where Brian Snow is an investigator.
"It's definitely on the increase," he told CBS News Colorado. "Our migrant population is disproportionately impacted by this," he said.
The wage theft unit spent months doing outreach and sharing information about the city's executive order that provides protection for victims, regardless of their national origin or immigration or citizenship status.
Now, more than a year in, he alone has 75 open cases, the majority of which involve multiple migrant worker.
"Between the presentations from the shelters and word of mouth between all the migrants, it just started flowing. Case after case started flowing in," Snow said.
Until the unit was developed, victims who lost less than $2,000 had a difficult time holding employers responsible and couldn't afford to take their cases to court.
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Now the city attorney's office will investigate and prosecute these cases, which can quickly add up.
"Two brothers did some work, both were owed about $1,200. As I got further into it, I started looking at the suspect and noticed several other cases out of other jurisdictions and that case has turned into 14 victims. I think I have somewhere around $90,000 in bounced checks to employees," Snow said.
Despite the increase in complaints, Jauregui says there are likely dozens more who haven't come forward.
To make a complaint about wage theft visit the links below: