According to a recent report,
legal aid organizations in the
These legal aid lawyers are quick to point out that most of these violations are not motivated by malice or greed. In many cases, the current economic climate has left employers with no choice but to cut costs by any means, legal or (for some) otherwise. The violations most commonly involve paying workers less than the minimum wage, or less than the agreed-upon wage.
While violating the law is never a good thing, and stiffing
employees who depend on a steady salary, literally, to survive is
reprehensible, it’s hard not to appreciate, at least a little bit, the
situation that many employers (particularly small businesses) find themselves
in. After all, owners of small businesses have been some of the hardest-hit by
the current recession, as is usually the case. They might find themselves in a
position where they have to choose between shortchanging an employee on their
wages, laying the employee off altogether, or maybe even going out of business.
That’s no excuse for breaking the law, of course, but it also doesn’t match the
image of moustache-twirling robber-barons that stories like this might
initially conjure up.
The violations are particularly common in the restaurant and
construction industries. Obviously, without more information, we can’t know for
sure what factor, or combination of factors, is to blame for this. However,
there are a few possible explanations that seem fairly obvious.
First, it’s possible that the workforce in these industries
consists of a higher percentage of undocumented immigrant workers than most
other industries. It’s much easier to violate wage and hour laws with such
workers, since they’re less likely to know what the law is, and even if they
do, employers may believe that they’re unlikely to report these violations, for
fear of the immigration consequences.
A second possible explanation, perhaps related to the first, is the fact that many of these workers may be paid under the table in cash. Also, restaurant workers are sometimes exempt by minimum wage laws, or subject to a lower minimum wage than other workers, because they are expected to derive a significant portion of their income from tips. This might lead to employers not being entirely clear of their legal obligations in this regard.
Finally, it’s also possible that some employers simply think that such employees are unsophisticated, and therefore won’t know that they’re being shortchanged on their legally-mandated wages.
Whether it’s deliberate or accidental, motivated by desperation or simple cheapness, no employees should be paid less than the salary that they agreed to when they were hired.
And recent LegalMatch
case data shows that wage and hour violations can occur in virtually any
industry or profession, and allegations of such violations are extremely
common, almost everywhere in the country. While construction and food service
workers were indeed well-represented in the data, many white-collar workers,
including human resources managers, investment consultants, and account
executives were also present.
What does all of this tell us? Well, it’s hard to say. For example, we can’t be sure how, and to what extent, the belly-up economy is affecting the numbers of wage and hour violations, and reports thereof. Obviously, if a business isn’t doing very well, the temptation to try to shortchange employees is going to be strong, which one would expect to cause an increase in reports. On the other hand, it’s also possible that, during a recession, employees might actually be more reluctant to report such violations, simply because they’re grateful for any form of employment and income.
Whatever the case, in order to prevent such abuses, and
promote the rights of employees, and the long-term stability of our economy,
workers must be aware of their legal rights, and work to vindicate them.
By: Rusty Shackleford
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