New Data Tracks 13 Years of Wage-Related Laws and Shows Growing Protections for US Workers
For more than a decade, cities and states across the United States have been steadily expanding laws designed to protect workers from wage theft, and new data now lays out just how significant that shift has been. A fresh set of datasets published on LawAtlas.org, along with a detailed analysis in the American Journal of Public Health, shows that local and state governments have increasingly stepped in to give workers more power, more protections, and more ways to hold employers accountable.
Wage theft happens when an employer fails to pay workers the wages or benefits they are legally owed. This can include unpaid minimum wages, missing overtime pay, or promised wages that never arrive. In the US, wage theft has long been known to disproportionately affect people of color, women, and immigrant workers, making it not just an economic issue, but also one tied to inequality and public health.
The newly released data paints a clear picture: while federal wage laws have remained relatively limited in scope and enforcement, cities in particular have become laboratories for innovation, experimenting with stronger and more worker-focused wage protection policies.
Cities Lead the Charge Against Wage Theft
One of the most striking findings in the data is how aggressively cities have moved compared to states. Between January 1, 2010, and April 15, 2023, the number of cities with local wage theft laws tripled. These laws go beyond simply restating federal or state requirements and instead introduce new enforcement tools that give workers real leverage.
Among the approaches cities have adopted are licensing penalties for employers who fail to pay wages, mandatory education programs for both employers and workers, third-party complaint mechanisms, and even wall-to-wall investigations that allow enforcement agencies to proactively examine workplaces rather than waiting for individual complaints. Some laws also include evidentiary burden shifting, meaning employers, not workers, must prove that wages were properly paid.
For workers living in these cities, the result is access to additional layers of protection designed not only to punish wage theft, but also to support workers through the complaint and recovery process.
What the New Datasets Cover
The four newly released datasets were developed by researchers at Temple University Beasley School of Law, working with the Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR). Together, they map the legal landscape of wage theft protections across the 40 largest US cities and the 25 states in which those cities are located.
The datasets focus on laws governing the payment of minimum wages, overtime wages, and promised wages, and they carefully code whether each law includes specific enforcement and protection mechanisms. These include whether a law:
- Imposes monetary penalties or non-monetary penalties
- Requires employers to keep wage records
- Requires employers to provide wage information to workers
- Includes anti-retaliation protections for workers who file complaints
By capturing these details over a 13-year period, the datasets make it possible to track how wage theft laws have evolved and where the strongest protections currently exist.
Key Findings From the Data
Several concrete trends stand out in the findings.
In 10 of the 40 largest cities, local laws now authorize the revocation of a business-related license if an employer fails to pay minimum, overtime, or promised wages. Back on January 1, 2010, only one city had this kind of protection in place. At the state level, however, only Massachusetts offers this protection as of April 15, 2023.
When it comes to financial consequences, 11 of the 40 largest cities impose mandatory monetary penalties on employers for minimum wage violations. In every one of these cities, the penalties go directly to the worker, either as a percentage of the wages owed or as a daily fine.
Education also shows a stark divide between local and state action. As of April 15, 2023, nine cities have laws that require education or outreach for workers and employers about wage rights and responsibilities. Only one state has a comparable provision.
Preemption, often cited as a major barrier to local labor protections, turns out to be less widespread than many assume. Only four of the 40 largest cities are completely preempted from enacting any kind of local wage theft legislation.
Filling the Gaps Left by Federal Law
The researchers behind the project emphasize that these state and local laws are not emerging in a vacuum. Instead, they reflect an effort to fill gaps where federal wage law and its enforcement fall short.
Federal protections like those under the Fair Labor Standards Act establish a baseline, but enforcement resources are limited and violations often go unaddressed. Local and state governments have responded by creating laws that are more accessible, more proactive, and more responsive to workers’ real-world experiences.
By systematically mapping these laws for the first time, the research team hopes to give policymakers, advocates, and scholars the tools they need to evaluate which approaches work best and how legal protections can influence not just wages, but also worker health and well-being.
Why Wage Theft Is a Public Health Issue
While wage theft is often discussed in economic or legal terms, it also has serious public health implications. When workers are underpaid or not paid at all, they may struggle to afford housing, food, healthcare, and transportation. Chronic financial stress can contribute to mental health challenges, poor physical health outcomes, and reduced access to medical care.
Low-wage workers, who are most likely to experience wage theft, are also more likely to work in physically demanding or high-risk jobs. Strong wage protections can help stabilize income, reduce stress, and improve overall quality of life, making wage theft regulation an important but often overlooked public health tool.
How These Datasets Can Be Used Going Forward
The release of these four datasets marks a major step forward for research and policy analysis. Because the data is publicly available on LawAtlas.org, researchers can now examine how different legal features correlate with outcomes such as complaint rates, wage recovery amounts, employer compliance, and even health indicators.
Advocates and policymakers can also use the data to compare their own cities or states with others, identify gaps in protection, and design laws that reflect best practices from across the country.
In short, the data shows that wage theft laws in the US have become stronger, more creative, and more worker-centered over the past 13 years, especially at the city level. And with this new level of detail now available, the conversation around worker protection has a much firmer evidence base to build on.
Research paper: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308351
