Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) sent a letter to Iowa Workforce Development Director (IWD) Beth Townsend asking for more information about what policies and penalties are in place at the IWD to combat wage theft.

According to a recent report by Common Good Iowa, wage theft is estimated to cost 250,000 Iowa workers more than $904 million annually. The same report found Iowa workers are shorted an average of $300 per week through minimum wage and overtime wage violations, in which workers are paid less than they are due according to federal minimum wage and overtime standards.

In addition, public records show IWD only has two active investigators to address unpaid wage claims for 1.5 million workers in Iowa, and only 9 percent of employers that IWD investigated from 2017 to 2019 for wage theft were subject to penalties beyond the wages they owed to their workers.

“Iowans work hard, and they deserve to be fairly compensated for that work. When employers fail to pay them their due, workers should have robust supports and advocates to ensure that they are able to retrieve their stolen wages,” Rep. Axne wrote. “The abundance of wage theft impacting Iowa workers demonstrates that IWD has failed to meet the urgency of this matter. IWD needs to do better and it is time that Iowans get answers on how it will improve.”

Dear Director Townsend:

I am writing to you today to inquire about the Iowa Workforce Development’s future plans to address wage theft and stand up for Iowa workers.

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