- Wage theft affects far more people than more well-known and feared forms of theft such as muggings, bank robberies, convenience store robberies, highway robberies, and gas station robberies.
- Employers steal billions of dollars from their employees each year by working them off the clock, failing to pay the legal minimum wage, and cheating on overtime pay.
- Research shows that well over two-thirds of low-wage workers have been the victims of wage theft, and most victims never sue or complain to government officials.
Brady Meixell and Ross Eisenbrey from Economic Policy Institute write:
“Wage theft—employers’ failure to pay workers money they are legally entitled to—affects far more people than more well-known and feared forms of theft such as bank robberies, convenience store robberies, street and highway robberies, and gas station robberies. Employers steal billions of dollars from their employees each year by working them off the clock, by failing to pay the minimum wage, or by cheating them of overtime pay they have a right to receive. Survey research shows that well over two-thirds of low-wage workers have been the victims of wage theft.
In 2012, there were 292,074 robberies of all kinds, including bank robberies, residential robberies, convenience store and gas station robberies, and street robberies. The total value of the property taken in those crimes was $340,850,358. By contrast, the total amount recovered for the victims of wage theft who retained private lawyers or complained to federal or state agencies was at least $933 million in 2012…”
See full story here.
Categories: Business, Government, Labor, Politics
Economic Left 
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