January 2, 2011

No one really knows how much business cheat their employees but the figure has to be in the tens of billions a year for the United States. In New York, the figure is about 18 million a week. This cheating is called “wage theft” and it can take the following forms:

Not paying minimum wage.

Withholding the final paycheck after the employee quits.

Not paying for overtime, not offering overtime.

Requiring employees to work “off the clock” before or after their shift.

Taking illegal deductions from pay checks such as damage or loss of work-related tools, materials or other business items.

Classifying employees as independent contractors so wage laws are circumvented.

Not paying wages at all or paying partial wages and making threats against workers who complain.

Requiring employees to work through rest and lunch breaks.

Requiring employees to work for tips only.

Stealing tips.

This activity is most common in jobs where workers are illegal residents and especially in restaurants, construction, manufacturing, farming and related businesses, retail stores and casinos. Most affected are women.

Since so many being cheated are illegals, there is not much incentive from any business group to end this practice and by ignoring the realities of this, they condone it. The same for governments at all levels.

Wage theft is just that. It's theft... a crime and must be treated as such.