The New York State Department of Labor has found that employers stole roughly $126 million dollars in wages from workers in the state between 2017 and 2021. But despite the agency's success substantiating claims of wage theft, the department has not had much success recovering the money.

A recent analysis by ProPublica and Documented finds nearly 63 percent—about $79 million dollars—of those stolen wages have not been recovered. Documented and ProPublica reporter Marcus Baram spoke with WNYC host Kerry Nolan about what's causing the delays.