{"id":429,"date":"2013-04-29T22:59:20","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T22:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fslawfirm.com\/blog\/?p=429"},"modified":"2024-04-02T20:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T00:43:07","slug":"wage-theft-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fslawfirm.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/wage-theft-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Wage Theft in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

An \u201cInvisible Epidemic\u201d: U.S. Employers Stealing Employees\u2019 Wages at an Alarming Rate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alternet.org recently published an article regarding wage theft, and the alarming rate at which workers in America \u2013 especially low wage workers \u2013 are being \u201crobbed\u201d by what most would consider an unlikely thief: their employer.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In the face of globalization and an economy in recession, thousands of businesses have set their sights on workers as a way to cut operating costs.\u00a0 <\/span>By denying minimum wage, overtime compensation, tips, shortchanging on benefits, and unlawfully deducting wages from employees\u2019 checks, companies help their own bottom line while victimizing the very people who have contributed so much to their success.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, women<\/strong>, minorities<\/strong>, and immigrants<\/strong> are being \u201crobbed\u201d at the highest rates of any employees.\u00a0 <\/span>Employees who are paid in cash \u2013 such as landscapers<\/strong> and domestic services employees<\/strong> \u2013 are denied important benefits such as Social Security insurance, their wages often fall short of the minimum wage, and they are often denied overtime premiums.\u00a0 <\/span>Employees who are paid for piece work <\/strong>are often denied minimum wage and overtime compensation, and are not paid for all of the time they work.\u00a0 <\/span>Tipped workers<\/strong>, such as restaurant employees, are also common victims of employers\u2019 illegal pay practices, as the tips they rightfully earned are often diverted to the house, members of management, or \u201cback of the house\u201d employees.\u00a0 <\/span>Furthermore, they are often required to pay for uniforms or rides to work.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Other employees are misclassified as independent contractors<\/strong>, and are therefore deprived of overtime and other benefits which they would otherwise receive.\u00a0 <\/span>This unlawful practice commonly arises in the context of seasonal work<\/strong>, as well as in the construction<\/strong> and trucking<\/strong> industries<\/strong>, but is becoming a trend in a wide variety of industries.\u00a0 <\/span>Still others, often labeled \u201cmanagers,\u201d are misclassified as \u201cexempt\u201d<\/strong> from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and therefore \u2013 according to their employer \u2013 not entitled to overtime benefits.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, in an economy where jobs are scarce, employers are increasingly taking advantage of workers desperate for a paycheck.\u00a0 <\/span>According to alternet.org, a \u201cconservative estimate\u201d of unpaid overtime alone indicates that workers are losing out on $19 billion in lawfully earned wages per year.\u00a0 <\/span>Furthermore, in 2009, the National Employment Law Project released a study, \u201cBroken Laws, Unprotected Workers,\u201d in which they surveyed over 4,000 workers in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.\u00a0 <\/span>The results were staggering: (1) 26% of low wage workers got paid less than the minimum wage; (2) 76% of workers working over 40 hours per week were denied overtime; and (3) workers lose an average of $2,634 per year due to these workplace violations<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

If you believe your employer is stealing your wages, contact the New York City Employment Lawyers of Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP for a free consultation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An \u201cInvisible Epidemic\u201d: U.S. Employers Stealing Employees\u2019 Wages at an Alarming Rate
\nAlternet.org recently published an article regarding wage theft, and the alarming rate at which workers in America \u2013 especially low wage workers \u2013 are being \u201crobbed\u201d by what most would consider an unlikely thief: their employer.\u00a0
\nIn the face of globalization and an economy in recession, thousands of businesses have set their sights on workers as a way to cut operating costs.\u00a0 By denying minimum wage, overtime …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,1,22,27,21,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-class-action","category-employment-law","category-flsa-2","category-ny-labor-law","category-overtime-2","category-unpaid-wages-2"],"yoast_head":"\nWage Theft in the United States - New York Employment Lawyer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fslawfirm.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/wage-theft-in-the-united-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wage Theft in the United States - 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