(The Center Square) – Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill Thursday that increases penalties for businesses that withhold earned wages from workers without warrant. 

Senate Bill 22-161 classifies wage theft as criminal theft and imposes automatic penalties of up to twice the withheld amount or $1,000, whichever is greater, against employers who violate the law. It also requires employers to pay an estranged employee’s earned wages within 14 days of receiving a written demand. 

The bill was sponsored by Democrat Sens. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Sonya Jacquez Lewis, D-Boulder, and Reps. Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, and Meg Froelich, D-Englewood. 

“Wage theft is far too prevalent in Colorado, and it often hits working families the hardest,” Danielson said in a statement. “It’s essential that we support the folks who work hard to keep Colorado’s economy running. This law will ensure workers receive the full wages they have earned.”

Wage theft has become an issue that’s received increased attention at the state and local levels in Colorado. According to a report from the Colorado Fiscal Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank, nearly $728 million in stolen wages are reported annually in the state, with approximately 440,000 Colorado workers impacted. 

As a result, the think tank estimates that Colorado loses more than $45 million in tax revenue each year. 

Some business groups pushed back against the bill. The Colorado chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) previously said the legislation will increase the regulatory burden for small businesses as they continue to recover from the pandemic. 

“Colorado’s small-business owners already labor under the great weight of local, state, and federal compliance of rules and regulations,” said Tony Gagliardi, NFIB Colorado's state director. “They needed the burden lessened not increased.”