Willems Announces Plan To Protect Wages, Hold Greedy Corporations Accountable
New plan would create a dedicated wage theft enforcement unit inside the Attorney General's office and give Iowa workers a direct way to report violations.
MOUNT VERNON, IA — Today, Nate Willems, Democratic candidate for Iowa Attorney General, released a comprehensive action plan to deliver for hardworking Iowans by cracking down on wage theft, creating a dedicated enforcement unit inside the Iowa Attorney General's Office, and making sure Iowans keep their hard-earned money.
"Every year, $900 million is stolen out of Iowa workers' paychecks — through unpaid overtime, stolen tips, and hours where they're forced to work off the clock illegally. I've spent my career sitting across the table from workers who got cheated out of money they earned, and I've seen how hard it is for someone to fight greedy corporations who refuse to follow the law alone," said Nate Willems. "Iowa's attorney general is supposed to help regular Iowans. Right now, Brenna Bird is failing to make this a priority. It's time for the attorney general's office to fight for Iowans, not the special interests and political insiders who are taking advantage of them."
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 Iowa's building trades, UFCW, SEIU, AFSCME, local law enforcement, and workers across the state when they were denied what they were owed by their employer. Willems has also secured victories to ensure Iowa police officers and first responders receive the pay they deserve, including winning the largest collectively bargained wage increase in Iowa history for the Carter Lake police department.
"The Attorney General's office is the largest law firm in the state of Iowa, and it's the only one that's supposed to work for regular Iowans," added Willems. "We should use every tool at our disposal to make sure Iowa workers are receiving the pay and benefits they have earned."
- Creating a Dedicated Wage Theft Recovery Unit: Willems will establish a first-of-its-kind unit inside the Iowa Attorney General's office with dedicated staff focused solely on investigating employers who repeatedly ignore labor laws, including stealing wages, misclassifying workers, and more. The unit would use enforcement tools that already exist under Iowa law, meaning it can be stood up immediately, without waiting on the legislature to act.
- Giving Workers a Direct Way to Report Violations: Under the plan, Iowa workers would have a direct line to report wage theft to the Attorney General's Office — through a hotline or online intake form routed straight to an attorney or investigator.
- Investigate Bad Actors Thoroughly: The unit would treat repeat wage theft as a signal to look harder at bad actors for additional illegal practices — like ignoring tax, retirement, or unemployment insurance obligations — not a one-off violation to settle and move past.
- Going After the Most Common Ways Employers Cheat Workers: The unit would focus enforcement on the violations Iowa workers report most often: employers who skim or withhold tips, misclassify workers, make employees work off the clock, and illegally dock paychecks without a worker's consent.
- Cracking Down On Repeat Offenders to Stop Wage Theft: Willems will work with prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against bad actors, not just civil penalties — sending a clear message that stealing wages is a crime.
- Partnering With Private Attorneys, Unions, and Legal Aid to Reach More Workers: The unit would work directly with Iowa's unions, legal aid organizations, and private attorneys already handling wage claims, expanding the office's reach without waiting to build capacity from scratch.
Read the full plan at natewillems.com/policy/protecting-your-paycheck.
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