Statewide Iowa — A new study suggests Iowa workers are underpaid by at least 900 million dollars a year.
Common Good Iowa, the group issuing the report, calls that wage theft. Sean Finn, the report’s author, says an estimated 250-thousand Iowans are impacted.
Finn says some workers are not paid the overtime they’re owed or their employers fails to follow minimum wage laws. Other full-time workers are misclassified as a independent contractor, which Finn says lets the employer avoid paying taxes and benefits.
Finn’s report is titled “A Heist in Plain Sight” and he argues businesses that are violating wage laws are hurting responsible employers who are following the rules.
The Iowa Workforce Development agency is using part of a federal grant to investigate businesses that may be misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Last year the agency collected a quarter of a million dollars to settle 341 claims over unpaid or underpaid wages.
