ICYMI: Iowa Capital Dispatch “Democratic AG Candidate Nate Willems Proposes Wage Theft Recovery Unit”
DES MOINES – In case you missed it, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Nate Willems, the Democratic candidate for Iowa Attorney General, released a new policy aimed at protecting Iowans’ paychecks by cracking down on corporations who illegally steal wages or skirt labor laws.
Willems’ plan would create the first wage theft recovery unit inside the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and provide employees with a direct line to report violations.
Willems is a labor lawyer in Cedar Rapids who has built his career representing working Iowans who had nowhere else to turn – and delivering wins for them. He recovered $15 million for 11,000 University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics workers who were victims of systemic withheld wage payments, and has represented local law enforcement, and workers across the state when they were denied what they were owed by their employer.
More information on Willems’ plan is also available here.
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Democratic AG candidate Nate Willems proposes wage theft recovery unit
- Nate Willems, the Democrat running for Iowa Attorney General, said he plans to create an enforcement unit dedicated to wage theft recovery if elected in 2026.
- Willems, a labor lawyer and former state representative, released a “Protecting Your Paycheck” policy platform Wednesday as part of his campaign for Iowa attorney general in 2026, focused on combatting wage theft in Iowa — an issue he said costs Iowa workers $900 million through unpaid overtime, stolen tips, time worked off the clock and being misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees.
- In an interview, Willems said wage theft represents “ten times the amount of all other types of theft in the state of Iowa combined,” and said the Iowa attorney general, as the state’s top legal officer, should be focused on this problem.
- The candidate proposed establishing the “first-of-its-kind” wage theft recovery unit within the attorney general’s office, a team that would have staff dedicated solely to investigating employers that violate or ignore labor laws
- The platform also proposes giving Iowa workers a “direct line” for reporting wage theft to the AG’s office. Though the wage theft recovery unit would not “have the capacity to take on each and every claim across the state of Iowa,” he said the line would provide ways to both connect workers with AG office staff when appropriate, or provide individuals more guidance on how to move forward.
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