Wage theft, or holding back, delaying or not paying wages due employees has grown to a crisis level, yet most of us are unaware it exists. Wage theft is one of the most solvable crimes committed, yet this widespread but silent crime perpetrated by corrupt employers is deepening the economic recession. Examples include employers paying workers less than minimum wage, changing hours on time and attendance records, not paying overtime hours or rate, or not pay a departing employee’s final paycheck.
Kim Bobo, Interfaith Worker Justice (www.iwj.org) Executive Director and author of “Wage Theft in America” states that wage theft is a national crisis that is continuing to grow, and it’s not just a small problem in a few mom and pop companies. She states that wage theft is found in some of the largest and most recognizable companies such as Walmart, Cyntas, Home Depot and even Target. The video below is an important description of this very real threat to our economy. Unlike the banking crisis or gas price increases, wage theft can be solved and in doing so can be part of the solution to the current recession.
Current Unemployment
In the midst of this wage theft crisis people are finding themselves increasingly out of work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics continually reports a bleak unemployment picture:
“Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000 in May [2009], about half the average monthly decline for the prior 6 months. The unemployment rate continued to rise, increasing from 8.9 to 9.4 percent. Steep job losses continued in manufacturing, while declines moderated in construction and several service-providing industries.”
The national rate of unemployment rate has gone from 4.4% to 9.4% in just over two years, rising 25 out of the last 27 months.
