“As the economy slowly recovers, it’s become increasingly clear that it’s not just unemployed Americans who need help from the government. It’s those that are employed as well.
“That’s the main finding of a new report from the Economic Policy Institute on wage theft. What is wage theft? It’s when employers refuse to pay their workers their rightful wages and benefits, such as refusing to pay overtime. It’s a major problem across the United States. One study, which EPI cites, examined three cities (New York, Chicago and Los Angeles) and found that two-thirds of workers in low-wage industries had experienced a pay-related offense in any given week in 2008. Those violations cost workers more than $2,600 a year on average—nearly 15 percent of their total earnings. If wage theft is as prevalent in the rest of the United States as it is in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, then it costs workers more than $50 billion a year.” *
Cenk Uygur (http://www.twitter.com/cenkuygur), Ben Mankiewicz (http://www.twitter.com/BenMank77), Michael Shure (http://www.twitter.com/michaelshure) and John Iadarola (http://www.twitter.com/JIadarola) break it down on The Young Turks.
* Read more here from The New Republic here: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119410/economic-policy-institute-wage-theft-could-total-50-billion-year
Comments
I am a pizza delivery driver for a major fast food chain. I first started working Sept 2012 for min. wage (7.50 / hr.) plus $1.05 for each run and tips. In Jan. 2013 our wage policy was changed to min. wage while working in the store but 5.25 / hr. while driving as we are considered “servers on wheels” and our tips would “make up the difference”. It does NOT! The price of gas is high and we have to provide our own insurance, and maintain our vehicles. For me , personally, this has amounted to over $5000 dollars in the past three years for transmission, brakes, tires, a starter, gas pump etc. This change in wage policy was implemented after workers lost a court action against Domino’s Pizza when they had this policy change and our company followed suit after they saw the benefits (profits) of such a policy.. After I saw your show I realized that this can be considered wage theft and I would like to see more media awareness of this outrageous corporate theft. By the way, our company reported record profits last year while we, the workers, have to struggle more just to keep our jobs. Thank you and keep up your excellent reporting.