Wage theft can take many forms:
Paying below the minimum wage,
withholding earned benefits,
overtime, breaks or tips,
misclassifying employees
as independent contractors
and even outright non-payment.
The Economic Policy Institute
estimates that workers are losing
50 billion dollars a year to wage theft,
but most people haven't even
heard of the problem.
If it's hard to picture
50 billion dollars, consider this.
Yearly economic losses to auto theft,
robbery and burglary combined
come to much less at 14 billion a year.
Wage theft impacts more
than just the workers
who don't get their wages.
It lowers wages in those workplaces
and across entire industries.
Plus, it robs communities of tax dollars.
And even more broadly,
it rewards cheating,
undermines competition
and creates a race to the bottom
that hurts us all.
Although wage theft impacts
many industries,
my research focuses on one
of the most vulnerable sectors,