The state Department of Labor failed to promptly investigate hundreds of complaints from workers over unpaid wages and other workplace issues, a recent state audit found. In a response included with the audit, the labor department cited a lack of staffing as the main reason for the delays in beginning investigations. Auditors said 41 percent of the 2,000 complaints received by the labor department’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division during the period, as of May 2023, were unassigned for investigation. The department said legislation proposed but not passed in 2023 would have required no fewer than 45 wage and hour inspectors and another bill required hiring 45 additional wage enforcement officers in the Wage and Workplace Standards Division. An amendment called for not fewer than five wage and hour inspectors in the division. Auditors pointed out the labor department employed 20 wage enforcement agents and investigators and four field supervisors as of April 2023.
https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/connecticut-labor-department-complaints-19594035.php