Denver Labor collected $1,479,453 in restitution as of the end of July, surpassing the highest dollar amount recovered for unpaid workers within a year.

“Every dollar matters to the people who earned that money, and no case is too small for us to investigate,” Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien said in a press release.

For reference, Denver’s Auditor’s Officer recovered $1,101,738 in all of 2022 reporting period. 

The $1.4 million was distributed to 2,810 people, with 1,646 under the minimum wage and civil wage theft ordinances and 1,164 workers under the prevailing wage ordinance.

The Citywide Minimum Wage Ordinance was approved unanimously by Denver City Council in 2019. It allowed for Denver to establish a minimum wage above the state level based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). 

Not paying a worker promised wages, overtime, or forcing them to work off the clock is considered civil wage theft. A new ordinance was established in 2023, giving the Denver Auditor’s Office new procedures and penalties to help combat theft.

As of August, Denver Labor analysts have closed investigations for 40 minimum wage and civil wage theft cases.

The prevailing wage ordinance “declares that any contractor or sub-contractor performing work on or at a City facility costing $2,000 or more, must pay their employees working on those projects nothing less than the appropriate prevailing wage rate for the classification of worker,” according to the Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC) Section 20-76.

Denver Labor has closed 370 prevailing wage cases during this reporting period.

“Denver Labor’s goal is to help protect as many workers as possible from wage theft, while supporting the competitive job market for businesses in Denver,” according to the news release. “Wage theft disproportionately impacts people of color, women and other marginalized or underrepresented groups.”

The increase in reimbursement amounts is not thought to be an increase in unpaid workers, but an increase in the auditor’s ability to act.

Tayler Overschmidt, spokeswoman for the auditor’s office, points to the new ordinances put into place.

“What that means for workers and businesses is: our office has been able to enforce prevailing wage requirements on projects using public resources for decades, but since the passage of the new wage laws every worker in the city – regardless of any contractual relationship with the city – is protected,” she said.

“In response to the added worker protections, our office has taken on new resources to expand our efforts to connect with and educate the business community, as well as conduct more investigations citywide,” Overschmidt concluded.

Denver’s minimum wage will be increased to $18.29 an hour as of January 1, 2024.