SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A legal settlement has been reached to shore up New Mexico's enforcement of laws against wage theft by employers.
A coalition of labor-rights advocacy groups on Wednesday announced the agreement with the Department of Workforce Solutions. A district court judge is reviewing proposed requirements that the Division of Labor Relations take on more accusations of wage theft in which workers are underpaid or not paid at all.
New Mexico Center for Law and Poverty attorney Elizabeth Wagoner says more than 500 claims of wage theft are filed every year. She says the state previously denied one of every four complaints for improper reasons.
Under the proposed settlement, employers who fail to pay minimum or overtime wages are more likely to pay damages at three times the value of unpaid wages.