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Tuesday, March 25, 2025

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White House inadvertently texted top-secret Yemen war plans to journalist; MS egg prices stay high amid industry consolidation; NM native, others remembered on National Medal of Honor Day; IN inches closer to lifesaving law change.

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President Trump credits tariffs for a Hyundai Steel investment in Louisiana, but residents say the governor is betraying them over health concerns there; and other states double down on climate change as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations.

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Cuts to Medicaid and frozen funding for broadband are both likely to have a negative impact on rural healthcare, which is already struggling. Plus, lawsuits over the mass firing of federal workers have huge implications for public lands.

Study: Virginia ranks among worst states for wage theft

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Friday, February 7, 2025   

Virginia ranks third behind only Maryland and Delaware among the worst states for the average amount of back wages companies owe to their workers. Virginia employers owe an average of more than $1,600 to nearly 3,500 employees.

A report from the financial training website Goat Academy analyzing federal data found since 2021, nearly 4,800 wage theft violations have occurred.

Paul Falabella, attorney and past president of the Virginia Employment Lawyers Association, said wage theft laws were passed only recently in the Commonwealth. He pointed out a lack of oversight combined with a construction boom may have contributed to Virginia's wage theft problem.

"Virginia had no state law on wage theft and didn't have the ability for workers to sue directly," Falabella noted. "Workers had to go to either the federal or the state Department of Labor."

It changed in July 2020, when the Virginia Wage Payment Act went into effect. The law gave workers the right to sue their employers in court for wage theft, which previously was impossible.

Falabella added more resources at the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry would help address wage theft issues. But he acknowledged labor law enforcement depends on who is leading the Commonwealth.

"The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry has been underfunded for a long, long time," Falabella asserted. "It's a little better now, but it depends on who's in charge, who's in the governor's office, how robust that enforcement might be, how much attention they're going to focus on workers' rights."

The report, which analyzed U.S. Department of Labor data, found in total, more than $128 million in back wages are owed to U.S. workers.


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