State recovers $5.5 million for workers

The state Department of Labor reported Thursday that it recovered more than $5.5 million owed to Connecticut workers during the past fiscal year.

The money included more than $2 million in wages owed, nearly $1.6 million in unpaid overtime or pay below minimum wage and more than $1.9 million under the state's prevailing wage law that gives a boost to organized labor.

Another $7,700 or so was recouped from private contractors who owed back pay to service workers.

In all, the department reports, nearly 5,000 people in the state received compensation to which they had been entitled but failed to receive.