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Denver Labor

What We Do

Denver Labor, a division of the Auditor’s Office, promotes lawful employment and wage compliance while providing exceptional labor, wage, and hourly enforcement. Denver Labor audits 100% of certified payrolls and investigates 100% of wage complaints.

Denver Labor’s goal is to protect Denver’s employers and employees and ensure everyone is paid according to the law. We work to foster community relationships with businesses and labor organizations, and educate our diverse community on labor issues.

Denver's Minimum Wage

Denver's Minimum Wage increases to $17.29/hour on January 1, 2023. Denver Labor will use data and thoughtful analysis to improve the reach of our education and enforcement work within industries where workers are at highest risk of receiving less than the wages required according to law.

Civil Wage Theft in Denver

Wage theft is the failure to pay workers the full wages to which they are legally entitled. On Jan. 9, 2023, the Denver City Council passed the Civil Wage Theft Ordinance, which created new procedures and penalties regarding civil wage theft and vested responsibility for implementation and enforcement with the Denver Auditor’s Office.

Are You Owed Money?

Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien, CPA, wants to make sure that employees doing city work or working in the City and County of Denver get the wages they are owed according to the law.

Prevailing Wage

Denver’s Prevailing Wage Ordinance (§20-76) requires payment of the prevailing wage on contracts with the city, and is enforced by the Auditor’s Office.

2022 Denver Labor Wages Report

Denver Labor works with both businesses and workers to resolve wage compliance issues in ways that work for everyone. We take an education-first approach to wage law compliance and enforcement. This report serves as our required annual minimum wage report.

Small Business Resources

Check out the tools and resources available for small businesses to help them comply with Denver's wage laws.

Restitution Stories

Learn more about the Denver Labor stories behind returned wages.

Contact Our Office

Contact the Auditor's Office and its division Denver Labor for general questions, wage-specific complaints, and other specific comments or suggestions.

How Denver Labor Works

Denver Labor is a division of Denver Auditor's Office and enforces Prevailing Wage, Davis-Bacon Act, Minimum Wage, and Civil Wage Theft.

Denver Wage Laws

Citywide Minimum Wage

All work performed in Denver.
All workers, tip credit applies to food and beverage workers.
Minimum increases annually on January 1.
Complaints may be anonymous.

Civil Wage Theft

Applies to all persons who work in Denver.
Employers must ensure all workers performing work within Denver are paid all earned and lawful wages.
Complaints can be anonymous and must be submitted within three years of the alleged civil wage theft.

Prevailing Wage

Applies to all work performed on City of Denver property or using city dollars.
Covers contractors and subcontractors for construction, improvement, repair, maintenance, demolition, or janitorial work.
See Prevailing Wage for updated wage rates.

100% of payrolls must be submitted and will be reviewed by our analysts.

Transcript of Denver Labor Organizational Chart in 2023.(PDF, 72KB)
(PDF, 72KB)

Denver Wage Rates Timeline

Denver Labor Wages Timeline in 2022.

Transcript Denver Wages Timeline(PDF, 69KB)

Receiving Complaints

How To Submit

Complaints can be made by:

Email: wagecomplaints@denvergov.org
Web form
- Prevailing wage complaint form
- Citywide minimum wage complaint form
Phone: 720-913-5039
In Person

All complaints must be made in writing. We will assist anyone making a complaint in completing the necessary forms.

Who Can Submit

Complaints can be made by:

Employees
A third-party
- Family/Friends
- Attorney
- Community Resource
- Labor organization
Anonymous

However, we encourage any party making a complaint to share contact information. We make every effort to keep complainant’s information confidentiality. Communication between the complainant and the investigator can dramatically assist an investigation.

What We Need

Employer's name
Location where the work was performed
A statement explaining the alleged violation

The investigator assigned to the complaint may contact a complainant for additional information or documentation. Denver Labor will not ask and accept information related to a party’s citizenship or immigration status. The more information the complainant can provide, the greater the likelihood of a successful investigation.

Restitution Stories

Our staff always works hard to get wages recovered for workers protected by the Prevailing Wage and Minimum Wage ordinances. In 2022, Denver Labor recovered more than $1 million for underpaid workers, exceeding previous annual records. In January 2023, the team already recovered $541,220 for employees in Denver. You can read some of the success stories in the link below.

Wages recovered by Denver Labor as of March 30, 2023.

This graph shows Denver’s unpaid wages recovered by the labor division of the Denver Auditor’s Office by year. In 2013, $101,905 were recovered. In 2014, $142,977 were recovered. In 2015, $84,232 were recovered. In 2016, $701,787 were recovered. In 2017, $417,271 were recovered. In 2018, $265,243 were recovered. In 2019, $678,559 were recovered. In 2020, $1,017,363 were recovered. In 2021, Denver Labor recovered $690,298 for workers. In 2022, Denver Labor recovered $1,101,737.73. As of March 30, 2023, Denver Labor recovered $743,000 for underpaid workers in the City and County of Denver.

Read Our Restitution Stories