In a recent round table discussion on labor legislation in California, Maria Yolanda Torres, a Subway worker from San Jose, Calif., spoke out about a situation where her boss was stealing her wages.
“I didn't get paid [for working] ... for me, it was very hard to buy groceries and pay my bills … because the owner didn't pay me,” Torres said.
Her story is unfortunately not unique. Earlier this year, Jack in the Box workers walked off the job because they weren’t getting paid for their scheduled breaks or for overtime. After walking out, Jack in the Box worker Ana Nande said, “I'm on strike because for about two years I worked without getting a break. I usually have to work 8 hours without a 10 min break.” That means for two years, Nande has had both her breaks and wages stolen from her.
Wage theft occurs anytime an employer fails to pay the wages owed to an employee by law or by contract. Wage theft is illegal, yet offenders rarely see real repercussions. In a recent report, the Center for Public Integrity reported that from 2005 to 2020 the U.S. Labor Department only fined one in four repeat offenders of wage theft. Overall, wage theft occurs despite its illegality because the Labor Department is lenient on offenders.
The specifics of wage theft can be hard to spot because it is so commonplace. If your boss asks you to work before you clock in, skip a break, refuses to pay you overtime, pays below the minimum wage, doesn’t pay you for required sick time, or takes your...
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