Backlog of Wage Theft Complaints Prompts Call for More Labor Inspectors

Francisco Uranga,

HARTFORD — When Alida Arreaga tried to cash her paycheck, she said it bounced due to a lack of funds, marking the second consecutive payment failure from her Hartford-based restaurant job. So last Friday, she filed a wage theft complaint with the state Department of Labor.

“Wage theft is disgraceful and impacts our members’ ability to stay healthy and housed and care for their families,” Arreaga said Tuesday during a public hearing of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, which discussed a proposal to increase the number of wage and hour inspectors for the DOL. 

There are a wide variety of cases that qualify as wage theft under state and federal regulations, ranging from paying below minimum wage, not recognizing overtime and not receiving a paycheck. This practice frequently affects migrant workers, like Arreaga and a dozen other Spanish speakers who testified at the public hearing, who said they fear the consequences if they complain to a government agency. Some of the undocumented workers testified that their employers threatened to deport them for claiming stolen wages.

But due to a high volume of wage violation claims, the DOL is facing a monthslong backlog. The bill aims to solve this problem by doubling the department’s staff by mid-2026, employing at least 45 inspectors. The proposal did not specify how much it would cost to hire the additional workers.

“Gov. Ned Lamont understands the concerns of those who want the state to hire additional inspectors to accelerate reviews of claims related to wage and hour laws,” said Julia Bergman, spokesperson for the governor. But she added that any adjustment in staffing levels needed to be part of the state’s final budget. 

Bella Jiménez Vázquez, a construction worker, said she experienced wage theft two years ago after her employer did not pay overtime and failed to pay her and her co-workers for the last few weeks on the job.

“I am a single mother and I have to support my two minor children who depend on me. Since I did not get paid for several weeks and I did not work for a while, I had to ask for a loan with very high interest that I am still paying today,” Jiménez Vázquez said during the hearing. “It is not fair that employers steal from us in such a cynical way and that the authorities do nothing.”

Jiménez Vázquez complained to the DOL, but said she was told they could not take her case if she didn’t have a Social Security number. 

“The department employee was wrong. We immigrant workers have rights, we work and pay taxes just like everyone else,” she said. “Employers that steal wages are criminals and should be treated as such.”

Between 2019 and 2022, the state DOL ordered employers to pay $17 million in stolen wages after investigations, the CT Mirror reported. Industries with the most such claims included restaurants and home health care services, particularly concentrated in Fairfield County.

However, not all workers file claims due to fear of retaliation. 

Jenny Cornejo, a member of the migrant organization Unidad Latina en Acción, said she accompanied a friend to claim an outstanding paycheck. After an argument, the employer allegedly returned with a gun and yelled at her friend to “get out of here, illegal immigrant. I’ll call the police because you’re invading my house,” Cornejo testified on Tuesday. She said her friend later filed a claim with the DOL in 2021 but has yet to hear back. 

The average backlog is eight months for Wage and Hours Division claims, according to inspector Emilio Theodoratos. The main reason for the delays is the lack of staffing, he said, which not only hurts workers who make claims but also employers who don’t fully understand their responsibilities.

“Proper staffing would expand our abilities to conduct outreach and have more of a proactive approach to preventing wage and hour violations,” Theodoratos said. “If we have the capacity to conduct seminars to educate not only employers but employees, I believe the number of violations could be decreased.”

Currently, the division has 21 inspectors, seven of whom speak Spanish. The bill requires the department to employ at least 22 wage and hour inspectors by Oct. 1 and have at least 45 inspectors by June 2026.

Hiring more Spanish-speaking inspectors is one of the demands supported by Bridgeport resident Iván Abarca, a Connecticut Worker Center member and victim of wage theft. Abarca said he was hired to do painting and carpentry work, but was never paid. With the help of the Connecticut Worker Center, a grassroots organization that supports migrants, he filed a complaint with the DOL.

“I was afraid to talk to a government agency. Fortunately, one of the investigators spoke my language. I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been if I had to speak through interpreters. He understood my language and my culture,” Abarca said during the hearing. “Having more inspectors in our language would help us defend our rights. In this session, you have the chance to make a real change.”

Waterford selectmen approve hiring of manager to oversee firehouse project

Daniel Drainville

Waterford ― The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved spending $306,650 to hire a program manager who will oversee the construction of the new Oswegatchie firehouse.

“That person will really end up being the representative of Waterford,” said Robert Tuneski, chair of the Oswegatchie Fire Station Building Committee.

Downes Construction Co. of New Britain will develop bids, review construction drawings, assist in the selection of the building contractor and oversee the day-to-day construction while reporting back to the building committee.

The appropriation still has to be approved by the Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting. Last month the RTM approved the town’s purchase of the Oswegatchie Fire Company’s land and current building for $1, and allocated an additional $127,000 for building designs.

The building committee interviewed three candidates for the job before voting 5-2 to select Downes Construction, Tuneski said.

“These guys have a lot of internal expertise,” he told selectmen Tuesday night, adding the firm was also the low bidder.

Asked by First Selectman Rob Brule about the project’s impact on taxpayers, Tuneski said constructing a new building is only one of the options.

He disputed information from RTM and fellow building committee member Ted Olynciw about the building’s cost. Last month, Olynciw sent a letter to the RTM that calculated the cost of a 13,350-square-foot station, the size designed in 2018, at $12.1 million. But Tuneski said the final cost could end up being much less as the committee has yet to make decisions about the size and features of the building.

“Hopefully, that’s the case,” he added.

East Hartford makes $760,000 in state funds available to Church Corners redevelopment

Michael Puffer

Adeveloper picked by the town of East Hartford for the tricky redevelopment of a historic, but rundown downtown building into a modern 24-unit apartment building can now access $760,000 in state grant funds.

That’s what remains of a $2.5 million state grant the town received in 2022 to advance redevelopment efforts for the Church Corners Inn building at 860 Main St.

East Hartford’s Town Council, on Tuesday, unanimously agreed to grant access to those funds to developer Parker Benjamin – who was selected as a development partner on the project last year. The Unionville-based developer specializes in adaptive reuse.

Church Corners had once been a lodging house with a high-end restaurant, but devolved into a board house that was an epicenter for drug use and petty crime, resulting in thousands of police and emergency calls every year.

Town officials used a portion of the 2022 grant to buy the property, move tenants out and perform some pre-development work. Now, Parker Benjamin has access to the remaining $760,000 to advance the project, even before it takes ownership of the property.

Parker Benjamin’s plan calls for 24 apartments built over retail space. The company wants to install a restaurant on the first floor, but the retail space could be carved up in various ways, noted Dimitri Karouta, the company’s director of development. He estimated the Church Corners project could take up to 18 months after construction begins, with a budget estimate of $5 million.

“Church Corners, historically, was an integral part of downtown East Hartford,” Town Council Chair Richard Kehoe told the Hartford Business Journal Wednesday. “This new project will restore Church Corners to its former glory and is a harbinger of what we hope will also occur with downtown East Hartford.”