“In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay.” This from the study “Broken Laws: Unprotected Workers”, by the University of Chicago and referenced in the New York Times, but a better look at this issue is in Marcus Dann’s blog post.
Stealing from employees, wage thefts, in a variety of forms, is getting the spotlight now, folks. Time to pay attention, straighten up and fly right. In my work as a consultant I see this happen more than I would like to. It shouldn’t happen at all.
Read the referred to posts and beware the movement afoot to put a stop to this.
Read the referred to posts and beware the movement afoot to put a stop to this. If you have an agreement with another human being to pay them for work done, pay them. If they are not doing the work to the agreed upon standards, there are other issues and other methods to improve the situation. BUT, pay them what you said you would pay them, because let me tell you this – a truer statement than “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned! is “There is no faster way to piss a man off than messing with his paycheck!”
This may be true – “Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned!” But this is truer “There is no faster way to piss a man off than messing with his paycheck!”
In an article entitled “Stop Stealing From Workers” published this morning by The Center For Working Class Studies at Ohio’s Youngstown University, the author, Marc Dann, has a serious story about how this is happening and what little is being done about it, for now. Dann refers to a personal experience he had documenting wage theft and then citing the study “Broken Laws: Unprotected Workers,” makes stunning discoveries of the rampant nature of wage theft in America.” Here are a few of the conclusions:
* 26 % of respondents had been paid less than the minimum wage in the previous workweek.
* 25% of the respondents had worked more than 40 hours in the previous week but a whopping 76% of them were not paid overtime.
* 70% of workers who arrived early or stayed late at their employer’s request were not paid for the extra time.
* 69 % of workers entitled to meal breaks didn’t get them.
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