State struggles with unpaid wage claims

Last in a series

OGDEN — Just before Valentine's Day last year, U.S. Tank Co. in Ogden — a manufacturer of industrial metal storage tanks — told employees to take a four-day weekend.

When they returned, they found the doors and gates locked and new "no trespassing" signs posted.

"The company shut down on us," welder Jose Rodriguez wrote in a claim to the Utah Labor Commission seeking to recover $2,720 in unpaid wages. Fellow welder Jesus Vargas also wrote that he never received his last paycheck, plus his next-to-last check for $1,200 bounced.

Marc Forrest, who was owed $5,000, wrote that he worked 11-hour days to help finish six large tanks on promises that it would bring money the company needed to pay workers. Instead, not only was he not paid, he said the company had not sent child-support payments to his ex-wife that it had deducted from earlier checks.

The state received 77 claims from U.S. Tank Co. employees seeking a combined $190,788 in unpaid wages. The Deseret News could not reach former company officials for comment.

It is an example this Labor Day of how as increasing numbers of businesses closed in the recession, they often left workers holding the bag for thousands of dollars each in unpaid wages. State officials say they are struggling to keep up with all the claims that helped to create, and employees are finding excruciatingly long waits for help.

RECESSION'S TOLL

"We're seeing more companies that just shut their doors and leave people without their paychecks. And people are coming to the Labor Commission in groups of 10, 20, 30" to seek help, Utah Labor Commissioner Sherrie Hayashi recently told the governor's Hispanic advisory council.

"We're seeing an astronomical increase in the number of wage claims," she said, as the recession led to more business failures.

Brent Asay, the wage claims manager for the Labor Commission, says that 1,000 claims a year was once considered to be extra heavy. It is seeing double that now, with no significant increase in employees to help process them.

Consider the numbers: In fiscal 2006, the Labor Commission received 1,505 claims.

In 2007, it grew to 1,737, up 15 percent.

In 2008, it grew to 1,938, up 12 percent.

In 2009, it grew to 2,721, up a whopping 40 percent.