Democratic AG candidate Nate Willems proposes wage theft recovery unit

“The AG’s office just has never taken that on,” Willems said. “And I think it’s past time that the AG’s office have a wage enforcement unit dedicated, not just to ensuring that the payment of wages, but also related items — whether there be falsification of time cards, whether it be failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, other … long-existing laws in the state, that have just never really been enforced in a systematic manner.”

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.

Currently, there are staff within the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) who handle enforcement of wage and labor laws that seek to recoup unpaid wages. However, Willems said, these staff do not seek liquidated damages or attorney fees in these cases.

“Under the existing enforcement mechanism in state government, the worst case scenario for an employer that steals from their workers’ paychecks is that they essentially got an involuntary zero-interest loan, so there’s no real disincentive,” he said.

The new unit, he said, would be focused on bringing litigation against employers who violate existing labor laws — and pursuing enforcement of the laws that would discourage violations. The platform says “corporations who intentionally break the rules or chronic offenders who ignore repeated warnings” would be the focus for the unit, and that employers found intentionally or chronically committing wage theft would be subject to further investigation.

This work would involve collaboration with other entities, including local county attorney’s offices and private attorneys “when appropriate,” he said — as well as other agencies within the state government. He said he plans to work with prosecutors to pursue criminal charges instead of simply civil penalties for entities found in violation of 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.

“A large piece of this, of course, is education, and along with education, it’s an intake process of being able to hear Iowans’ stories from across the state,” Willems said. “… I mean, there are a lot of different ways in which this unit can positively impact this $900 million a year problem that we have.”

Willems is running against incumbent Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, in the upcoming election. She launched a cold case unit in the attorney general’s office in 2024, and on the 2026 campaign trail has highlighted work done during her time in office to support crime victims and law enforcement.