State Labor Recovers more than $30 million in Wage Theft, according to audit

Payback time for cheating bosses as state labor officials have made progress in cracking down on wage theft by employers across New York, recouping more than $30 million on behalf of about 27,000 workers last year, an audit has found.

The amount recovered in withheld pay and interest is a record, and was up 35% from a year earlier. The state controller’s audit follows a prior report on 2011-13 that found a large backlog of cases.

Auditors said the state Division of Labor Standards has changed policies and operations, now completing 80% of its wage investigations within six months.