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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for labor law violations
4 results foundAuthor: National Employment Law Project Title: Winning Wage Justice: An Advocate's Guide to State and City Policies to Fight Wage Theft Summary: By any measure, wage theft in America is threatening to become a defining trend of the 21st century labor market. In the past year alone, workers recovered tens of millions of dollars in unpaid wages from their employers in a range of industries. For example, Staples paid $42 million in illegally underpaid wages to its assistant store managers, New Jersey truck delivery drivers received $2 million in an unpaid overtime settlement, Walmart settled an unpaid wages case for $35 million in Washington State, and New York car wash workers received $3.5 million in unpaid overtime. Behind these high-profile cases sits a growing body of research that documents a broad and worsening wage theft crisis in America. In a landmark 2009 study, Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, researchers surveyed more than 4,000 workers in low-wage industries in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, and found that 26 percent had been paid less than the minimum wage in the preceding week, and 76 percent had either been underpaid or not paid at all for their overtime hours. Dozens of studies by organizers and advocates in specific industries have uncovered similar rates of wage-related violations (as well as related health and safety, workers compensation, and right-to-organize violations). And in audits of employers in 1999 and 2000, the US Department of Labor (USDOL) found high rates of minimum wage, overtime and other violations across the country, including in 50 percent of Pittsburgh restaurants, 74 percent of Georgia day care centers, 50 percent of St. Louis nursing homes, 38 percent of Reno hotels and motels, and 47 percent of adult family homes in Seattle, to name just a few. Wage theft is not incidental, aberrant or rare, committed by a few rogue employers at the periphery of the labor market. It takes place in industries that span the economy- including retail, restaurants and grocery stores; caregiver industries such as home health care and domestic work; blue collar industries such as manufacturing, construction and wholesalers; building services such as janitorial and security; and personal services such as dry cleaning and laundry, car washes, and beauty and nail salons. Immigrants, women and people of color are particularly hard hit, although all workers are at risk of the many forms of wage theft: being paid less than the minimum wage, working off the clock without pay, getting less than time and a half for overtime hours, having tips stolen, and seeing illegal deductions taken out of paychecks. Minimum wage and overtime laws are the anchors of the employment relationship in the United States. They are the central vehicle by which public policy guarantees fundamental protections for workers. If we cede these most basic laws to rampant evasion and violation, we are effectively setting the clock back to the early 1900s, before the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), when the lack of any wage floor resulted in terrible working conditions. The wage theft crisis has many roots. Repercussions for violating the law are often not strong enough to dissuade employers, and declining resources and ineffective strategies by government enforcement agencies mean that employers have little fear of getting caught. Inadequate protections for workers who want to make claims of wage theft result in high rates of retaliation. And new forms of work and production, including outsourcing to subcontractors and misclassifying workers as independent contractors, have created confusion and allowed employers to move growing numbers of workers outside the reach of the law. The case for fighting wage theft is first and foremost about fairness and justice-but it is also about economics. There is the significant cost to workers and their families, which in one week alone is estimated to be $56.4 million in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles combined. There is the cost to taxpayers in lost revenues when employers fail to pay payroll taxes. There is the cost to our local economies, with fewer dollars circulating to local businesses, stunting economic recovery. And there is the cost to growth and opportunity as generations of workers are trapped in sub-minimum wage jobs. Every day, millions of responsible, profitable employers in this country comply with minimum wage and overtime laws. When we allow their unscrupulous competitors to undercut them on labor costs, we are starting a race to the bottom that will reverberate throughout the entire labor market in a cascading loss of good jobs. Everyone has a stake in this issue. Fighting wage theft is not about adding new burdens onto law-abiding employers. It is about smarter enforcement of laws that are already on the books, closing gaping loopholes and enacting stronger enforcement tools. In this guide, our goal is to support and build upon the surging grassroots energy around wage theft campaigns in cities and states across the country. Advocates are using high-profile street protests and new organizing strategies to target unscrupulous employers. They are mounting multi-year campaigns to update legal protections and set up new enforcement mechanisms. And they are pushing the issue of wage theft onto the airwaves, educating the public and lawmakers alike about the scale of the problem and how to fight it. In the process, they are creating strong, enduring coalitions of worker centers, unions, legal services groups, policy think tanks, and other low-wage worker advocates. By providing our allies a concrete menu of innovative policies to strengthen enforcement of minimum wage and overtime laws-as well as strategic guidance on identifying which policies make sense in a given community-our hope is that we help turn the tide and shift the American workplace from wage theft to wage justice. Details: New York: The Project, 2011. 136p. Source: Initernet Resource: Accessed October 24, 2018 at: https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WinningWageJustice2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WinningWageJustice2011.pdf Shelf Number: 153081 Keywords: Economic CrimesFinancial Crime Labor Law Violations Wage Theft Worker Exploitation |
Author: Hallett, Nicole Title: Workers on the Brink: Low-Wage Employment in Buffalo and Erie County Summary: In 2017, Professor Hallett, winner of a public research fellowship from Open Buffalo and PPG, conducted a survey of 213 workers in Buffalo to learn more about the challenges they are facing. The survey found that local low-wage workers experience high rates of legal violations. In all, 58.9% of low-wage workers reported at least one wage and hour violation, and 56% reported at least one potential health and safety violation. In particular, among low-wage workers participating in the survey: - 16% reported making below the applicable federal or state minimum wage; - 35% reported not being paid overtime in violation of federal or state law; - 16% reported working off the clock without being paid; - 27% reported that they had failed to receive their pay on time; - 24% of low-wage workers making tips reported that their employer had taken some of their tips in violation of federal or state law; - 33.3% of low-wage workers who reported handling dangerous materials or operating dangerous equipment as part of their jobs reported that their employer did not provide adequate safety or protective gear; and 26.7% reported not being properly trained to avoid accident or injury; - 21.6% of low-wage workers who complained about their pay or working conditions to their employer reported being retaliated against. The survey revealed clear differences based on gender, race/ethnicity, and citizenship status. Women, members of racial and ethnic minorities, and non-citizens reported higher violation rates in response to most questions. The report's recommendations include: -- The City of Buffalo and Erie County should: - pass wage theft ordinances that penalizes employers who do not pay their workers. - pass laws that require employers to provide paid sick leave. - refrain from doing business with companies that have bad health and safety records. - The Buffalo Police Department and the Erie County District Attorney's Office should treat wage theft as a crime. - Buffalo should raise its living wage rate to $15 per hour. - Erie County should pass a living wage law, requiring companies that do business with the County to pay a living wage of $15 per hour. Details: Buffalo, NY: Partnership for the Public Good; Open Buffalo, 2018. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Report: Accessed November 20, 2018 at: https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/poverty_low_wage_work_income_inequality/workers_on_the_brink__low_wage_employment_in_buffalo_and_erie_county_4112018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://ppgbuffalo.org/files/documents/poverty_low_wage_work_income_inequality/workers_on_the_brink__low_wage_employment_in_buffalo_and_erie_county_4112018.pdf Shelf Number: 153518 Keywords: Economic Crimes Financial Crime Labor Law Violations Wage Theft |
Author: Hernandez, Cynthia S. Title: Wage Theft: An Economic Drain on Florida. How Millions of Dollars are Stolen from Florida's Workforce Summary: This is the second in a series of reports monitoring the growing problem of wage theft in Florida. Using previously unanalyzed data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and separate data from various community organizations, this report shows evidence of a widespread problem across a broad spectrum of industries in Florida. The industries especially impacted are those commonly thought of as the core of Florida's economy-tourism, retail trade, and construction. Moreover, it appears more likely to affect those workers who can least afford it. Workers who receive low wages seem to be more likely to have their wages stolen by employers and as demonstrated in this report this is a large number of people. But, even this data does not account for the full magnitude of the problem, as an unknown number of cases go unreported. Indeed, as data on wage theft accumulates, the more it becomes clear how widespread wage theft is in the state of Florida and throughout the state's industries. Wage theft is defined as workers not receiving wages that they are legally owed. It occurs in different forms including unpaid overtime, not being paid at least the minimum wage, working during meal breaks, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, forcing employees to work off the clock, altering time cards or pay stubs, illegally deducting money from employees' pay checks, paying employees late, or simply not paying employees at all. Unfortunately, many employers know they can get away with wage theft and have little fear of sanction. Enforcement mechanisms are weak, due to lack of dedicated enforcement capacity at the state level, limited capacity of local branches of the Federal Department of Labor, and the gaps in U.S. labor laws that leave many employees unprotected. The data from this report reveal that: - Over $28 million of unpaid wages have been recovered by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in Florida, Miami-Dade's Wage Theft Ordinance and community groups throughout Florida. - The primary pillars of Florida's economy are undermined by widespread theft of employees' wages. Florida's key industries have the highest numbers of reported wage violations- tourism, retail trade and construction. - An average of 3,036 wage violations per year are reported to the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division in Florida (DOL-WHD). - In spite of ample evidence of widespread wage theft among low income workers, as of December 2011, the Florida Attorney General had not brought one single civil action to enforce the state's minimum wage law enacted in 2004. - Since the full implementation of the Miami-Dade County Wage Theft Ordinance in September 2010, the Miami-Dade County's Small Business Development agency has recovered nearly $400,000 in unpaid wages for 313 workers who unlawfully had their wages withheld from them. - Out of the six counties we analyzed, the largest number of cases were in Miami-Dade County followed by Hillsborough, Broward, Pinellas, Palm Beach and Orange counties in that order. Overall, the data suggest that the primary pillars of Florida's economy are undermined by widespread theft of employees' wages. Florida's key industries have the highest numbers of reported wage violations-tourism, retail trade and construction. Tourism, represented by Accommodation and Food Services in official data, has been a core focus of Florida's economy for nearly a century and it has the highest frequency of reported wage violations. Retail trade has been a growing generator of employment in Florida for decades. Jobs in both tourism and retail tend to pay relatively low wages. Thus, when there is theft from wages that are already relatively low, employees and their families are likely to suffer even more severely. The third industry plagued by wage theft, construction, does offer higher average wages than either tourism or retail trade, but the averages conceal considerable variation. While wages in the construction industry are higher on average than tourism or retail trade, much construction work is done through subcontracting with often only verbal agreements between a subcontractor and employees; and wages are often paid in cash. Under these conditions, it is relatively easy and common for subcontractors to not pay employees the wages they are due. The wage theft stories collected by community based organizations offer a glimpse into the impact of wage theft on individual employees. They demonstrate the unscrupulous competitive advantage that some employers gain by ignoring the law and causing suffering most often among those who can least afford it. When we consider that many employees who lose wages to wage theft earn at or near minimum wage with no benefits like health insurance we can imagine that the loss of even a small amount of earnings imposes real hardship. In the six most populous Florida counties, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division recovered wages just under $16 million dollars. The average amount of recovered wages is $651 per employee who made a claim, more than a full week's work for someone earning $15 an hour, and more than two weeks work for someone earning the minimum wage. This average is a significant amount of money for an individual employee to lose over the course of a year. But, any loss of legitimately earned wages is a significant financial loss and a violation not only of the law but also of the social contract between employee and employer that is fundamental to a market economy. This analysis of wage theft cases also raises the question of whether a county and state economy can be healthy and grow while tolerating an unjust business model that avoids contributing to tax revenues. The employers who fail to follow the laws concerning their employees create an unfair business environment that penalizes those who do follow the law. Maintaining a level playing field for businesses is critical to maintaining a competitive business environment and to economic growth. The dishonest business model of practicing wage theft puts law abiding employers at a competitive disadvantage and undermines Florida's efforts to attract business. This report reveals that through the efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, Miami-Dade County's Wage Theft Ordinance, and community organizations throughout Florida, millions of dollars of unpaid wages have been recovered. Yet, all indicators are that much more can be done by simply enforcing existing wage and hour laws and by creating a statewide process that address the problem, since Florida has no state equivalent to a Department of Labor to investigate wage and hour complaints and does not have staff to enforce its minimum wage law. The evidence accumulating of a spreading illegal and ultimately an anti-business practice raises serious questions for a state economy and local economies hoping to attract businesses and employees to grow. Details: Miami, FL: Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, Center for Labor Research and Studies, Florida International University, 2012. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 20, 2018 at: https://www.reimaginerpe.org/files/Wage-Theft_How-Millions-of-Dollars-are-Stolen-from-Floridas-Workforce_final.docx1_.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: https://www.reimaginerpe.org/files/Wage-Theft_How-Millions-of-Dollars-are-Stolen-from-Floridas-Workforce_final.docx1_.pdf Shelf Number: 153519 Keywords: Economic Crimes Financial Crime Labor Law Violations Wage Theft Worker Exploitation |
Author: Cavanough, Edward Title: Ending Wage Theft: Eradicating Underpayment in the Australian Workplace Summary: Wage theft is now one of the most pressing public policy issues in Australia. In some sectors of the economy it has transitioned from a fringe activity to a business model. And at the same time, most Australians haven't seen a decent pay-rise in more than half a decade. Wage theft and low wage growth are related. Our Falling Wages, Stalling Growth report highlighted how wage theft by some businesses undermines the ability of their competitors to give their staff a pay rise: a reminder that it's in everyone's economic interests to put an end to this pernicious practice. This report builds on that 2018 report with a closer look at the people in our workforce that are most at risk to having their wages stolen. From young workers in hospitality not getting super or penalty rates to migrant workers in horticulture and more, we see that some segments of the population are more vulnerable than others. At the same time few, if any, sectors of the economy can say they are free from blemish - it's more a question of degrees or differing forms that wage theft takes than whether or not it occurs. The report also seeks to highlight the financial and welfare impacts on those workers and their families as well as the flow-on consequences for the broader economy, including the Federal Budget deficit. Recognising that this harmful habit by some has become a community-wide problem that warrants all of our attention, this report puts forward ideas and solutions to eradicate wage theft. These are grouped into four broad categories. First, this report advocates for a set of measures designed to demonstrate a zero-tolerance approach to wage theft. This includes reinforcing steps already underway to criminalise wage theft at a state level as well as new proposals to have it recognised as a form of anti-competitive conduct that will enable legitimate employers to seek damages when a competitor has undermined their business by underpaying their staff. Second, measures to make compliance more straight forward for employers in the first place and private enforcement action more accessible for employees are then explored. In corporate parlance, the latter means ensuring an effective right of audit for employees or unions acting on their behalf. Meanwhile streamlining the payment of superannuation and payroll is a simple example of how unnecessary complexity can be removed for employers. Third, we argue boosting public resources to tackle wage theft as well as improving government enforcement activities are required. Every dollar underpaid to staff means less income and payroll taxes flowing into government coffers. Conversely, this means whenever an employee makes a successful claim for underpaid wages the budget bottom line is improved. In effect, the commonweal and state treasurers are free-riding on some of the more vulnerable workers in our labour force when it really should be the other way around. This is why we have proposed legislating the Stopping Wage Theft Subsidy Pool to subsidise private enforcement action, education campaigns and to reward whistleblowers. Finally, the report looks at how other, often unrelated, areas of government policy need to be improved to ensure they don't unintentionally reward or encourage wage theft. The report puts forward specific suggestions in relation to government procurement and grants as well as immigration, and recommends the establishment of a whole-of-government taskforce to ensure all commonwealth policy levers are aligned towards ending wage theft as a business model. Details: Melbourne: McKell Institute Victoria, 2019. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 27, 2019 at: https://mckellinstitute.org.au/app/uploads/McKell-Ending-Wage-Theft.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Australia URL: https://mckellinstitute.org.au/app/uploads/McKell-Ending-Wage-Theft.pdf Shelf Number: 155189 Keywords: Economic Crimes Financial Crime Labor Law Violations Wage Theft Worker Exploitation |