CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ernest Hatten of Cleveland says he first experienced wage theft years ago while working as a security guard.
After working 56 to 60 hours in a given week, Hatten says his supervisor asked if they could subtract eight hours of pay in exchange for a vacation day, cheating him of the money he was entitled to get. He says people often don’t speak up when it happens because they fear losing work.
“These things shouldn’t be happening to people,” the photographer who works in the transportation industry told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. “It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s something that needs to stop.”
A new report from Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning research institute, found that Ohio employers steal from about 213,000 of their workers each year by paying them less than the state’s minimum wage, which is currently $9.30 per hour. In addition, it’s estimated that victims who stay at those jobs for a whole year lose an average of $2,900, or a quarter of their total pay.
It said around half of Ohio workers paid less than minimum wage are in the leisure and hospitality industry. The report says that Hispanic people, those born outside the United States, and women make up a disproportionate number of victims, adding that employers steal from Black and white employees at roughly the same rates. However, Black victims tend to lose more money than white victims because they tend to work longer hours.
In addition to failing to pay minimum wage,...
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