Wage theft probably costs workers 3X more than actual robberies
9 replies, posted
[url]http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/09/12/3566891/wage-theft-robberies/[/url]
[url]http://www.epi.org/publication/epidemic-wage-theft-costing-workers-hundreds/[/url]
[QUOTE]The amount of money employers had to pay because they were found guilty of wage theft is [URL="http://www.epi.org/publication/epidemic-wage-theft-costing-workers-hundreds/"]nearly three times greater than all the money stolen in robberies[/URL], according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
EPI gathered figures of money recovered for victims of wage theft — which occurs when an employer has workers perform tasks off the clock or pay for their own uniforms, violating labor laws — from the Department of Labor, state labor departments, state attorneys general, and research firms. In 2012, $933 million was paid in back wages for wage theft violations, although that figure is an under-count because there were six state departments of labor and five attorneys general the organization couldn’t contact.
Compare that to the less than $350 million stolen in all robberies, including from banks, residences, stores, and on the street in 2012. That’s not just the figure for those that were solved, but for any robbery simply reported to the police.
Even the nearly $1 billion collected is likely an under-count of the problem given that most victims don’t contract lawyers or file complaints. Relying on a study of low-wage workers in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, which found that workers were losing nearly $3 billion to wage theft, EPI generalized to the rest of the country and estimated that it’s robbing people of more than $50 billion each year. And even that may be a low figure, given that the three-city study found that two-thirds of workers experienced at least one form of wage theft each week, yet a recent poll of workers nationwide found [URL="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/04/02/3422111/wage-theft-poll-mcdonalds/"]nearly 90 percent[/URL] of fast food workers had experienced it.
That $50 billion figure dwarfs the $14 billion taken from victims of robberies, burglaries, larcenies, and car thefts in 2012. That’s less than a third of the cost of wage theft, according to EPI’s estimations.
[/QUOTE]
The figures from a few major cities may not perfectly generalize to the entire country, but even the most conservative estimate says wage theft by employers is waaaaay worse than any kind of actual robbery. Yet we throw robbers in jail and issue slap-on-the-wrist fines to employers. Why do we make such a distinction between stealing your pay after you receive it and stealing your pay before you receive it?
Somebody remind me why we as a culture fawn over employers and call them "job creators" and invite them to Congress to tell us how to run the country...
Any better sources available?
[QUOTE=thelurker1234;45965414]Any better sources available?[/QUOTE]
The second link is the actual report. What they did is basically a simple conjecture by looking at studies of wage theft in a few major cities and the settlements that were paid out and extrapolating that to estimate how much it costs the overall low-wage workforce across the country. The "what robbery costs" stats just come from the FBI. If anything, it is probably a conservative estimate, because most of the country has worse worker protections than New York or Chicago.
And Think Progress is not a bad source. Yes, they come from a progressive perspective, but they do a far better job of citing fact and reporting real news than some of their counterparts on the right wing.
So glad I refuse to do anything off the clock, if I'm not getting paid it's not my fucking problem.
[QUOTE=Amiga OS;45967893]Its actually in my contract, I'm required to work off the clock. And no, I don't get paid for it.[/QUOTE]
I don't know about the UK, but in the US, that would be illegal as fuck. The only way you can work off the clock and it not be a labor law violation is if you're a manager or salaried.
[QUOTE=ultra_bright;45966832]So glad I refuse to do anything off the clock, if I'm not getting paid it's not my fucking problem.[/QUOTE]
When i work off the clock its not by choice. Its because something happened that requires me to stay on.
That being said, its not like 10 minutes to take out the trash, its more like 3 hours for a fatal accident. But, its not wage theft because we all request an hours adjustment -- which they are very generous to give us
[QUOTE=The Baconator;45968012]lol[/QUOTE]
Just because a source aligns with your opinion doesn't make it a good source.
[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];45969059']I don't know about the UK, but in the US, that would be illegal as fuck. The only way you can work off the clock and it not be a labor law violation is if you're a manager or salaried.[/QUOTE]
I believe the Fair Labor Standards Act kind of covers it in the USA, but it doesn't seem enforced enough.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.