Murray, DeLauro, Scott Reintroduce Bicameral Legislation to Combat Wage Theft, Strengthen Workers’ Rights

The Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act would put money back in workers' pockets by protecting their right to fair pay, strengthening accountability for violations, and improving recovery of stolen wages

One report estimates that roughly $50 billion is being stolen from American workers via corporate wage theft every year, potentially even more

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, reintroduced their Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act, comprehensive legislation that puts hard-earned wages back in workers' pockets and cracks down on employers who unfairly withhold wages from their employees. The proposed legislation would give workers the right to receive full compensation for the work they perform and receive regular paystubs and final paychecks in a timely manner.

Each year, wage theft denies workers tens of billions of dollars in pay they have earned as employers commit a variety of minimum wage, overtime, off-the-clock, tip, and meal-break violations. Wage theft violations are pervasive at many large corporations. In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered more than $259 million in stolen wages on behalf of workers-representing just a small fraction of wages stolen nationwide. These illegal practices disproportionately hurt low-wage workers-amplifying poverty and inequality in America. As many as 35% of tipped workers, and 17% of low-wage workers generally, report being paid less than the prevailing local minimum wage in their state-denying workers $50 billion annually from minimum wage violations alone, potentially even more.

"Wage theft is the biggest form of theft in America-but right now giant corporations are robbing workers blind," said Senator Murray. "Workers are robbed of an estimated $50 billion every year, and this administration's answer has been to slash enforcement to the lowest level on record and give the green light for employers to steal from workers-so I'm doing something about it. Our bill guarantees workers the full pay they've earned, strengthens accountability, and makes sure stolen wages actually get recovered. You do the work, you earn the pay-that's a very basic contract we should expect every employer to uphold."

"Americans are living paycheck to paycheck," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "Working people are earning wages that have not kept pace with the cost of living, and on top of that, our most vulnerable workers face the threat of employers stealing or withholding their wages with little to no consequence or ability to make themselves whole. This cannot stand-we are in a cost-of-living crisis. Billionaires and corporations are hoarding every cent they can from the working and middle-class which is struggling to just break even under President Trump's administration. I am proud to partner with Senator Murray and Ranking Member Scott to introduce legislation to end this theft and give workers the ability to recoup their stolen wages. Americans deserve pay for all the hours they work, including overtime and tips. The theft must end."

"It is unacceptable that dishonest employers can steal workers' wages with little to no consequence. Each year, our most vulnerable workers are cheated out of billions of dollars. We cannot grow the middle class when we don't even have adequate deterrents to prevent wage theft," said Ranking Member Scott. "Workers and employers must be able to trust that our labor laws will hold unscrupulous employers accountable for violating the law and help workers recover the wages stolen from them. This bill would take critical steps to help workers receive the full pay they've earned for all hours worked, including overtime pay, and level the playing field for law-abiding employers."

Every day, workers across the country work long hours, expecting proper compensation, only to have their employers withhold their wages. While many employers act honestly and treat workers fairly, too many others force their employees to work off the clock, refuse to pay the minimum wage, deny them overtime pay after working more than 40 hours a week, steal tips, and knowingly misclassify workers to avoid paying fair wages.

The Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act would strengthen fundamental protections to help ensure workers receive the full compensation they have earned and crack down on corporations that subject workers to these abuses. Taking these steps will put money back in workers' pockets and help ensure our economy works better for all Americans, not just the largest corporations and wealthiest few.

Specifically, the bill would help combat wage theft and improve wage recovery by:

• Strengthening workers' right to fair pay and improving employer accountability
  • Requires employers to pay all wages owed to an employee. Currently, under federal law, workers can only recover wages at the minimum wage or for overtime worked; for example, an employee may be hired at $9.00 per hour, but would only have the right to recover $7.25 of every $9.00 she was owed. This bill would allow workers to recoup the full compensation that employers have taken from them.
• Increasing deterrence of and penalties for wage theft violations
• Bolstering recovery of workers' stolen wages

In the Senate, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

In the House, the legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Andre Carson (IN-7), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Jahana Hayes (CT-5), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Jim McGovern (MA-2), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Andrea Salinas (OR-6), and Mark Takano (CA-41).

The legislation is endorsed by AFL-CIO, Economic Policy Institute, National Employment Law Project, SEIU.

"EPI's research has shown that employers steal billions of dollars from workers' paychecks each year - by misclassifying workers, paying workers less than the minimum wage, stealing tips, or keeping workers' real hours off the books. Despite this, the federal agency responsible for protecting workers' paychecks lacks adequate staffing and resources to investigate these violations at scale, and the deterrent penalties in many cases are not strong enough to stop employers from breaking the law in the first place. This bill would go a long way towards cracking down on employers who violate the law, ensuring workers have transparency to understand their rights, and making sure that workers are able to get back the stolen wages they are owed," said Samantha Sanders, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Economic Policy Institute.

A one-pager on the bill is available HERE.

Full text of the legislation is available HERE.

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