Posted by Meaghan Kirby in Commentary
Jun 2 2026
The State of Connecticut Auditors of Public Accounts recently released an audit of the Connecticut Department of Labor (“DOL”) covering fiscal years 2023 and 2024, and the findings raise important concerns about how wage complaints are being handled in Connecticut. The audit focused, in part, on the DOL’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division, which receives complaints about labor law violations, including unpaid wages.
The audit found that, as of July 2, 2024, the Wage and Workplace Standards Division had 980 complaint cases that had been received or initiated, but had not yet been assigned for investigation. That was a 16% increase from the unassigned cases identified in the Auditors of Public Accounts’ prior audit. The auditors also noted that, as of September 15, 2025, pending and unassigned cases made up about half of the division’s estimated 2,000 cases.
The audit also raised concerns about documentation in civil penalty cases. The auditors reviewed 12 cases involving civil penalties for prevailing wage and minimum wage violations and found that all 12 lacked required documentation. Seven lacked supervisory approval for the penalty calculation, four lacked supporting documentation for the initial calculation, and three lacked documentation for a penalty modification.
The DOL acknowledged that there is a backlog, but it stated that the issue is not easily solved through resource planning alone. According to the agency, wage complaints vary widely, do not follow predictable trends, and must sometimes be reprioritized to address urgent matters involving worker safety, child labor, and final pay. The DOL also reported that funding for 11 wage and hour investigator positions was included in the 2025 legislative session, which the agency expects will help once those investigators are trained.
Just like with the CHRO’s backlog, for employees, these delays matter. Wage complaints often involve money that employees are already owed, including unpaid wages, final pay, minimum wage violations, or other workplace-related compensation. As the auditors explained, delays in processing these cases may deny wage earners timely resolution and restitution, and longer delays can make it harder to collect wages if an employer later closes, becomes insolvent, or otherwise becomes difficult to pursue.
Employees with wage claims should be aware that the administrative process may take time. That does not mean employees should avoid filing wage complaints, but it does mean they should understand the practical realities of delay, keep careful records/preserve documents, and consider speaking with an employment lawyer to understand all available options for recovering unpaid compensation.
Posted by Meaghan Kirby in Commentary
Tagged audit, backlog, civil penalties, connecticut, department of labor, law
