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Labor Secretary Takes on Wage Theft Epidemic 

April 19, 2010

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is offering assistance to the millions of workers who are victims of wage theft, unveiling a new campaign “We Can Help”, to help inform workers about their right to a fair wage.

At the campaign’s public kick-off in Chicago last week she said:

I have a message for those employers who break this nation’s labor laws and prey on vulnerable workers: it ends today … (Y)our president, your secretary of labor and this department will not allow anyone to be denied his or her rightful pay.

Workers in nearly every sector of the economy are cheated out of billions of hard-earned dollars each year by unscrupulous employers, depriving them of legally mandated wages. Many employees, either of out fear or lack of knowledge about their rights under labor law, remain silent about their conditions.

Kim Bobo, author of Wage Theft in America, writes in In These Times magazine:

Millions of workers are having their wages stolen. Two, possibly as many as 3, million workers aren’t being paid the minimum wage. More than 3 million workers are misclassified by their employers as independent contractors when they are really employees, which means their employers aren’t paying their share of payroll taxes and many workers are being illegally denied overtime pay. Untold millions more aren’t being paid overtime because their employers claim they are exempt from the overtime laws, when they really aren’t. Several million more aren’t being paid for their breaks or have illegal deductions made from paychecks. The scope of these abuses is staggering.

The practice is particularly prevalent in construction, service industries and among health care workers.

Under the Bush administration, enforcement of minimum wage and overtime laws was nearly nonexistent, but Solis has made stopping wage theft one of her top priorities, adding more 250 new wage and hour inspectors since taking office. She is encouraging unions, churches and community organizations to partner with the Labor Department to help keep workers informed of their rights and how they can notify authorities of wage violations.

The department plans to distribute posters, fact sheets and pamphlets on wage rules and how to file a complaint. It is also rolling out a series of ads featuring actor Jimmy Smits and co-founder of the United Farm Workers Dolores Huerta to help spread the word. 

Workers who have questions or feel that they have been cheated out of their wages should call 1-866-487-9243 or visit www.wagehour.dol.gov. All information is kept confidential.

To watch one of the Department of Labor’s latest public servic messages, click below.

Photo used under a Creative Commons License from Flickr user House Committee on Education and Labor