Everyone should be paid fairly and in a timely manner for their labor. Unfortunately, for hundreds of thousands of Colorado workers—a disproportionate number of whom are women and workers of color—employers illegally withhold their pay. This is a crime known as wage theft, and it affects workers across a wide variety of industries in Colorado.

This report outlines which Colorado workers are most likely to experience wage theft, which industries are most likely to be affected, and which types of wage theft are most common.

As policymakers look at ways to help the working people whose labor and spending powers our economy recover from the pandemic, they should continue to look at ways to protect workers from wage theft.

Key Findings:

• This report estimates nearly $728 million in wage theft annually in Colorado.
  
• Nearly 440,000 low-wage workers experience wage theft every year.
  
• Wage theft results in over $45 million annually in lost tax revenue for the state.
  
• White workers are slightly less likely to experience wage theft than workers of color.
  
• Latino workers are the demographic group most likely to experience wage theft.
  
• Women are much more likely than men to experience wage theft.

Click here to download the full report