Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 457 posts

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#101

Post by fzeroracer »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #35
wahnfrieden wrote: post #2

> A bartender in Orlando, Florida who requested to remain anonymous because they still work in the industry, said they started a new bartending job in May and pushed back when they found out their hourly wage was just a daily rate of $30, despite working eight-hour shifts. > “I reminded my manager that paying less than minimum wage was illegal, and added a link to a law firm’s page about it. He fired me,” the worker…

[flagged]

What does any of what you just said have to do with their employer violating Florida labor laws? They have specific wages for both tipped and non tipped employees. The wage as mentioned above was well below the tipped wage line as defined by Florida law.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#102

Post by lupire »

avgcorrection wrote: post #77
alkonaut wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An anonymous tip and a few inspections of staff logs and payrolls would make it pretty easy to make this disappear. The problem is that these sort of things (what regulations exist, whether authorities prioritize enforcing them) seems to always be answered with "no, because it's a poor people problem". It's unfair competition though, so it's really important that this doesn't happen. A restaurant that wants do to the…

> It's unfair competition though, so it's really important that this doesn't happen. A restaurant that wants do to the right thing shouldn't have to worry about a few % worse competitiveness on wages because the asshat across the street has his staff work for free. The true crime is as always the impact on businesses.

The Honest Employers Guild should sponsor investigations and lawsuits against the criminals to drive them out of business, like that company that buys anti-Tesla Super Bowl ads.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#103

Post by darth_avocado »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #85
darth_avocado wrote: post #43

People thinking wage theft only affects lower wage workers, let me tell you how tech companies commit wage theft: 1. Having annual components to wages (RSUs, bonuses), making you work all year and firing you just before they have to pay you. 2. Having no overtime for salaried employees 3. Having employees work extra responsibilities that are not part of the job description by promising promotions and then not giving…

> Having no overtime for salaried employees This is just the definition of "salaried employee".

Right, but it’s still wage theft when you make people work twice as much because they’re “salaried”.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#104

Post by worsethanthat »

alkonaut wrote: post #39
spamizbad wrote: post #9

This phenomena is pretty widespread in the service industry and I would venture to say that a significant minority of businesses participate in some version of wage theft. For example, one of my jobs right out of high school was waiting tables at a local restaurant. If you were opening, the expectation from owners and management was you'd get in early to help open but would wait 15 minutes before service started befo…

An anonymous tip and a few inspections of staff logs and payrolls would make it pretty easy to make this disappear. The problem is that these sort of things (what regulations exist, whether authorities prioritize enforcing them) seems to always be answered with "no, because it's a poor people problem". It's unfair competition though, so it's really important that this doesn't happen. A restaurant that wants do to the…

> The problem is that these sort of things[...] seems to always be answered with "no, because it's a poor people problem".

It's not just that. There are people that will outright deny that it's happening. The reasoning trotted out is that if it were true that this were happening then it would be squashed. In other words, if it were happening, then it would not be happening. From the article:

> According to a 2018 report by Good Jobs, between January 2000 to 2018, Walmart paid over $1.4bn in fines and settlements over wage theft violations, FedEx paid over $500m during the same period, and Bank of America paid over $380m.

Sans data about Walmart's $1.4bn in fines, they'll reason to themselves that Walmart, even if it's not somewhere they personally would ever shop, is a reputable company, therefore this isn't something that happens at Walmart.

I have experience firsthand (from a low spot in my life) that FedEx continues to do the same thing, especially to people who are powerless to do anything about it. To wit:

Their warehouse workers get paid low wages and the arrangement is that you need to be available between 4:00 AM and ~10:30. It's not that you'll be working during those hours. No, instead what happens is the night before they determine how high of a load they have and then set the hours for that time. So you as a worker call in at around 9:00 PM the night before, listen to a recorded message that states e.g. "On Tuesday, February 13, package sorters will begin work at 5:30". So far not so good, but there's nothing especially illegal about this is as far as I know. (It stretches morality and ethics, however.) What is illegal as I understand it is incidents where they tell you to report to work at that time, people show up, and then find that the timeclocks are papered over with a sign saying not to clock in because there was an issue at the warehouse overnight and the systems aren't running, so they've moved the clock-in time ahead 45 minutes to when they expect the systems to be up and running. You are expected to wait there off the clock despite not being paid and being expected not to leave.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#105

Post by greenie_beans »

dbingham wrote: post #26

One of the clearest illustrations of the deeply injust structural power imbalance at the heart of our economic system is wage theft. If your employer withholds $20 from your paycheck it's a civil violation of contract law. You have to go through an extremely onerous and convoluted process that very likely won't go anywhere. If, in response, you decide to pay yourself by taking $20 from the till, that's criminal theft…

that's because the state is designed to protect capital and not its citizens. we can use the process of government to change that.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#106

Post by lupire »

brvsft wrote: post #88
wahnfrieden wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since the implementation of the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy in 2019 and Title 42 in 2020, asylum seekers sent to Mexico have experienced kidnapping, rape, extortion, and other abuses by organized crime and Mexican officials. > When the United States sends migrants to Mexico, criminal cartels are enriched by kidnapping them and then extorting money from their US-based family members to secure their release. Just to co…

How is the US responsible for Mexicans raping other Mexicans? Is it our responsibility to stop all bad things from happening or just those that happen in Mexico? Should we have a police force on Mexican soil?

I can't see "US" and "Mexico" from space.

Mexicans are US Americans human neighbors.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#107

Post by Cheer2171 »

vdaea wrote: post #55
spacecadet wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sums up much of american rural small business... I started working at 12 and had many random jobs between 12-18 that were run by awful people. Our family has a small farm, my parents didn't think we did enough of that and put me in a white van full of migrant workers at 12 years old (hey the 80s!) to go pick produce in a field all day... It was grueling work but I got a first hand account of migrant farm workers…

[flagged]

This logic validates any horrific human rights abuse, just as long as that abuse is an epsilon less horrific than what is happening elsewhere.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#108

Post by Arisaka1 »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #85
darth_avocado wrote: post #43

People thinking wage theft only affects lower wage workers, let me tell you how tech companies commit wage theft: 1. Having annual components to wages (RSUs, bonuses), making you work all year and firing you just before they have to pay you. 2. Having no overtime for salaried employees 3. Having employees work extra responsibilities that are not part of the job description by promising promotions and then not giving…

> Having no overtime for salaried employees This is just the definition of "salaried employee".

Not saying that I disagree with the definition but most companies aren't happy when I have to leave the office earlier to visit a doctor and will expect me to work until the 40 hours are met.

So while the legal definition is true that I get paid a fixed amount "regardless of work hours" the societal expectation is that I'll meet the 40 hours, 40+ makes me a "work hard, play hard", and everything under is me being lazy regardless of whether I hit my productivity goals or not.

I once closed my Microsoft Teams off 15 minutes earlier than the expected and my manager was telling me to inform her next time that I'm leaving, and I work from home. Micromanaging at its finest.

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#109

Post by Cheer2171 »

brvsft wrote: post #80
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really shitty take. I don't think you're a decent person if that's how you truly feel.

[flagged]

What about the topic of this thread: wage theft? Should migrants have less rights to the product of their own labor not being stolen than citizens, just because they are not citizens?

Re: Billions stolen in wage theft from US workers

#110

Post by hackerlight »

darth_avocado wrote: post #43

People thinking wage theft only affects lower wage workers, let me tell you how tech companies commit wage theft: 1. Having annual components to wages (RSUs, bonuses), making you work all year and firing you just before they have to pay you. 2. Having no overtime for salaried employees 3. Having employees work extra responsibilities that are not part of the job description by promising promotions and then not giving…

Verbal promises about a promotion/payrise and then pulling the rug is also common.
Post reply on HN