from c&l:
A new report from the Progressive States Network shows that there are few states that are even attempting to seriously deal with the problem of wage theft from workers and most states do a terrible job of dealing with the rampant problem. 44 of 50 states and the District of Columbia did not receive passing grades on their policies for dealing with wage theft. Only two states -- New York and Massachusetts -- even got a grade as high as a "C." Nine states were so bad they earned an "F-."
These debates have played out most visibly in fights over legislative proposals targeting the rights of government workers and unions. A central theme in conservatives’ cases is an assumption that trends in the private sector mirror free market economic “reality,” a world where institutions that empower workers simply and unsustainably distort costs: if private sector wages are falling, that’s just what the market will bear; if workers don’t have pensions, it’s because they’re too expensive and no longer relevant. Many conservatives argue, as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker articulated, that the public sector is “out of balance” and needs to be “brought back in line” with the private sector, where pensions, healthcare coverage, and union representation have been on the decline for decades.
By surveying the effectiveness of laws meant to protect workers against violations by unscrupulous employers in all 50 states, this report reveals a very different picture of the actual “imbalance” between private sector and public sector employment standards. Since the private sector workforce is virtually non-union and concentrated in lower-wage sectors, the conditions such working people face are increasingly the foundation on which the American standard of living rests. Laws to guarantee an employee’s right to be paid what she or he is legally owed form a bulwark against the type of mass exploitation we are mortified by in other countries, and which are only a couple of generations distant in our own nation’s history.
Our research shows that states’ wage theft laws are grossly inadequate, contributing to a rising trend in workplace violations that affects millions of people throughout the country. The growth of this and other forms of the “underground economy” also have a serious impact on state revenues, amounting to billions of dollars per year in tax and payroll fraud.
Several states are acting to address these problems by strengthening their laws against unscrupulous employers. Our recent report, Cracking Down on Wage Theft, highlights some of these states, most particularly New York, which passed a law in 2010 that greatly enhanced the ability of workers to recover nearly $3 billion per year stolen wages and for the state to recoup hundreds of millions in lost revenue — simply by enforcing the law. However, the improvements that states like Massachusetts, Illinois, and New Mexico have recently made come against a backdrop of virtual lawlessness. Our comprehensive survey of state laws across three categories essential to addressing the problem — Accessing Justice, Transparency and Accountability, and Securing Justice — reveals that 44 of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC) do not receive passing grades on combating the wage theft epidemic. Even the highest-ranked states — New York and Massachusetts — receive barely passing grades and have just begun to develop truly effective policies for cracking down on wage theft, while the vast majority of states have few, if any, protections at all.
10 Comments
SagemindOn that same note, why are these workers staying with these employers.
After the first check is missed, they should be "Out the door"
I've been there where my employer's check bounced. when I got a replacement check. the bank phoned it in before cashing it it, only to find out there were insufficient funds to cover that check as well. The company had to have their accountant come and pay me out of their petty cash.
When I handed them my notice right after that (because I couldn't continue to work for an unstable company) I was taken into the office and brow beaten. I was told that dedication was part of the job and by not being part of the solution for the company, I was part of the problem. Then they invited me back and told me they would excuse my indiscretion of deciding to quit if I put in extra hours to help turn the company around. In fact, I was unwilling to quite my other job which was a guaranteed full time position and was told, my lack of dedication was an issue. This from a company who couldn't afford to pay their employees. (I wasn't the only one). On top of that. The guy running the company on investors money was living in the richest hotel penthouse in town and was always away on guiding hunting trips with his wife, the secretary of the company. Spending the investor's money on himself, instead of the business overhead. (It was an internet design company and we weren't even allowed to have internet access at our desks and wereexpected to bring in or own computer equipment from home.)
Ya right, needless to say, I was out the door.
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Ravenisays...I am pretty skeptical about "100 percent" claims like "100 percent of poultry plants steal workers’ wages", but I dug around and found the actual Department of Labor investigation that backs that up:
http://www.ufcw.org/document.cfm?documentID=291
Auger8I know the restaurant statistic was right I worked as a cook for the last 10 years until I shattered my ankle recently in a car accident. And in virtually every restaurant I've worked for (some very large chains too) I've had to deal with at least one of the following: no overtime pay, no overtime pay for working holidays(xmas/thanksgiving), no breaks, no lunches, missing hours, being hired at a certain pay rate only to find out I was getting less when I actually got paid, delayed checks(up to 2 weeks once), and at one place I got a paycheck advance and was forced to payback the sum I owed twice because the manager didn't write it down the first time and I was stupid enough not to get a receipt.(Granted the last one was sorta my fault but still they took me for $400 that time). And that doesn't even cover the horrid conditions at most of these so called high class restaurants many of which I won't eat at anymore.
curiousityI was just reading about the collapse of 38 Studios. One of the wives wrote a letter about their experience:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/172303/38_Studios_Spouse_speaks_out.php
EvilDeathBee@Sagemind I hope you told him where he could stick it. I know in the moment some people (like me) have trouble doing that, but I really hope you did
Another problem with "wages" or lack there of in North America, including here in Canada, is the goddamn culture of "tipping". It's gotten out of hand. It's no longer a method to show appreciation to a good product or service, instead it's now seen as mandatory where some places have the gall to advertise the oxymoron "mandatory gratuity".
In Australia, you see the prices listed, you pay that price, you get some change (none of which are 1 cent coins), maybe put some change in a tip jar if you're feeling gratuitous and that's it. Everyone's happy. Here it becomes a federal case if you do not tip when you get shitty service or meal.
sigmel>> ^Sagemind:
On that same note, why are these workers staying with these employers.
After the first check is missed, they should be "Out the door."
Because a lot of these jobs are low skill. Since we have high levels of unemployment, there is no shortage of people looking for jobs. So employers have all the power. If you don't want to deal with the company, they can easily find ten people who would be willing to have the job you vacated. Plus I would imagine that a lot of these people don't have the money to hire a lawyer to effectively sue the company.
The video also mentioned about subcontractors who hire illegal immigrants, then call the police on themselves before paying them. I would imagine any fines imposed would be less than the money they saved by not paying the wages. Since our immigration process is such a mess, these people have little recourse to fight that due to being here illegal (when they likely should be here legally).
Porksandwichsays...I think their issue is probably based a lot of illegal immigrant workers, places using them can hold deportation over their heads, pay them a lot less, work them a lot more, and avoid minimum wage US workers.
Minimum wage is a useless tool if they can bypass it by hiring people who willfully don't seek it for one reason or another. Deportation even if they are a legal immigrant due to lack of job keeping them here on their work visa.
Then the other is the "taxes are so high" excuse, where your paycheck isn't broken down properly and they are taking things out that they shouldn't be and just blaming it on taxes. Or overtime goes unpaid because "We don't pay overtime, yet we'll work you 80 hours a week and never inform you of this." Or you work through breaks and lunch, but they subtract lunch/etc from your pay because they need to do so to appear to be meeting labor standards if anyone ever looks into them. So they can use the "He worked through lunch? We didn't pay him for it...why would someone do that? He must have taken lunch."
And people who can't speak or read english or have poor comprehension. They spend more effort on ripping these people off because whose going to listen to them? They can't communicate well enough with their employer to argue one way or the other. Non-English speaking is a huge bias in the US work force, and I can somewhat see it. But there's still labor practices, if you don't want to hire someone who can't speak English...don't. But it's easier to break labor practices and rip them off if you do, which is why they hire them.
And they get away with it because they are 1) Huge corporations or 2) So shady without seeing it first hand someone wouldn't know something is up because their reports are so full of lies. Both categories will also fuck with your unemployment benefits despite it not costing them anything to let you have them. Why? Because it makes other people in the company unwilling to risk quitting with cause and trying to draw unemployment while they pursue legal matters against them. If they can keep you poor and on the edge, you don't have the ability to do anything about...you'll be out on the street before anything happens. And it's pretty hard to do anything court related if you don't have a mailing address, plus all of the other things that will happen to you, your kids, etc if you choose to try to fight and lose your job over it.....like inability to find work ever again because you complained and they let people know you did. And good luck proving they are hindering your ability to find work or that you are on some sort of unofficial black list.
I don't doubt for a minute that what they say is 100% true. It's already taking place out in the open with CEOs and what not raking in money and driving down wages of everyone else or laying off major swathes of their work force while they post record profits. And no one in government is batting an eye at that display of greed and the questionable nature of the finance industry still dictating the terms of the economy even after they got bailed out massively and changed nothing.
Corporate corruption is going to be a bitch to handle when the government relies on it for it's donations/bribes.
GenjiKilpatrickHe said as has if the global economy wasn't in shambles.
With 16 to 25% unemployment in most demographics, would you risk being unemployed?
Some monopoly money is better than none, right?
>> ^Sagemind:
On that same note, why are these workers staying with these employers.
After the first check is missed, they should be "Out the door"
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