By Shaun Boyd
April 2, 2019 at 6:40 pm
The Colorado Fiscal Institute says more than 500,000 Colorado workers are victims of wage theft each year, losing an estimated $750 million. And right now, there’s little prosecutors can do about it.
Under current state law, wage theft is a misdemeanor, no matter if it’s $100 or $100,000. Representatives Jonathan Singer and Meg Froelich plan to change that.
“When a hard day’s work is put in, an honest day’s pay is deserved,” said Singer.
He and Froelich have introduced a bill that would align wage theft with other thefts. If it’s over $2,000, it would be a felony.
“Wage theft is perpetrated against the most vulnerable workers,” said Froelich.
It is especially common in the construction and food service industries. Jim Gleason, a carpenter, says he was a victim.
“We were getting paid every week until about the 4th or 5th week and we were informed that there wasn’t enough money to make payroll so if we didn’t mind waiting a week, we’d pay for two weeks the next week,” he said. “Well, the next week came and there was no check. It’s time we put the exploiters in jail and got the penalties that they deserve and give the wages to the people who deserve them.”
The Colorado District Attorney’s Council agrees.
“Why is it that someone should face a greater penalty for stealing your cellphone then for having your wages stolen?” asked Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “It is the exact same offense and should be treated the same under law and until we do so we’re going to allow immigrants and poor people in this state to be victimized.”