Wage theft is a new hot topic sweeping across the United States. The issue picked up even more steam when Donald Trump repealed wage theft protections in March of 2017. Working professionals, in particular, are rightly concerned with the prevalence of wage theft among businesses in America. Many worry that they may be a victim of wage theft without even realizing it. Thankfully, there are resources online to help you identify what wage theft is and the industries most affected by it, like this one. Keep reading to learn more.
Overtime
Wage theft includes situations where workers are not paid overtime. This is illegal. But unfortunately, not many workers recognize that. When hourly workers, also known as non-exempt employees, work for over 40 hours in a given week, they are owed overtime benefits. Overtime pay laws from the U.S. DOL state that workers are entitled to one and a half times their pay for every hour worked over 40 hours in a given week. This is a frequent type of wage theft that occurs across a number of industries.
Last Paycheck
Another type of wage theft includes withholding an employee’s last paycheck when they leave the job. Regardless of how you leave a job, you are entitled to wages for all hours worked. This is a frequent problem for low-income workers who are often too afraid to file a complaint or learn more about legal W-4 allowances. If you have ever been docked pay or had a check withheld completely when leaving a job, you have been a victim of wage theft and may not have even realize it was illegal.
Hours Worked
The concept of wage theft also includes instances where employees are not paid for every hour worked. You are required by law to be paid for all the hours you work. This is true regardless of how many hours you agreed to when you were hired. This can be done in one of two ways. If your employer forces you to clock out and continue working off the clock, this is a form of wage theft. Or, if your employer seems to be making frequent accounting “errors,” and your paystub often reflects an inaccurate amount of hours worked, this is also wage theft. They are required to correct those errors every single time. This is one area, in particular, that all hourly employees should be on the lookout for.
Minimum Wage
Many companies perpetrate wage theft by not paying government-mandated minimum wages to their employees. Oftentimes, workers are paid lower wages than allowed by state law. Companies often feel that the financial benefits outweigh the potential punishment if they get caught. However, this is clearly illegal. If you are in a situation like this, you are the victim of wage theft and should probably seek out the services of a legal advisor. Make sure you are well-informed on minimum wage laws in your state.
Industries Most Affected
All industries are affected by wage theft. However, there are some industries where wage theft is more prevalent within the United States. The most cases of wage theft occur in agriculture, poultry processing, janitorial services, restaurant work, garment manufacturing, long term care, home health care and retail industries. A wage theft report reveals, 55% of Los Angeles thefts were failure to pay minimum wage. Although these industries have the most reported wage theft cases, that does not mean that other industries do not experience their own wage theft issues. It may just mean that they are better at not getting caught. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security if you are a worker in other areas of American industry or business.
If you are an adult of working age, the rising prevalence of wage theft is sure to be of concern. But, if you know the most common types of wage theft, you can better protect yourself from falling victim to the financial crime. That is why you should learn up on the types of wage theft mentioned above. There is no need to attend online accounting courses just to protect yourself. These wage theft cases are prevalent across a number of industries. Make sure you protect yourself and your colleagues by sharing this information with anyone and everyone that you can. Then, pressure your local and state government to strengthen wage theft ordinances and overall workers’ protections if you want to make wage theft a thing of the past.
