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Reading Time: 3 minutesWHAT IS WAGE THEFT?Wage theft is not a legal term. It’s a phrase used to describe minimum wage andovertime violations. When companies do not pay employees all the money they’reowed, intentionally, that is considered wage theft. In 1938, the federal government passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, whichcreated a national minimum wage for the first time, and required employers topay a higher hourly rate when employees work more than 40 hours in a week.The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act, but manystates (and cities) have even stronger wage theft laws. For example, New Yorkstate can impose higher penalties for companies that commit wage theft, and inPhiladelphia, workers have three years to file a complaint against a companythat underpaid them. The federal statute of limitations is two years in mostfederal cases.

What Does Wage Theft Look Like?

• Making employees work off the clockOne of the most common forms of wage theft happens when bosses ask staff to dotasks before or after they clock in for their shift. That could include cleaningwork stations, counting cash, answering email, preparing coffee or setting upequipment.RELATED ARTICLESRipping off workers without consequenceshttps://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/cheated-at-work/ripping-off-workers-with-no-consequences/RIPPING OFF WORKERS WITHOUT CONSEQUENCESHis paycheck bounced. It got worse from there.https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/cheated-at-work/his-paycheck-bounced-it-got-worse-from-there/HIS PAYCHECK BOUNCED. IT GOT WORSE FROM THERE.¿Temes ser víctima del robo de salarios? Esto es lo que debes saber.https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/cheated-at-work/temes-ser-victima-del-robo-de-salarios-faq/¿TEMES SER VÍCTIMA DEL ROBO DE SALARIOS? ESTO ES LO QUE DEBES SABER.

• Refusal to pay as agreedWhen an employer pays someone less than the amount promised, that is wage theft.It happens often in the construction industry, labor advocates say, whencontractors pay laborers a fraction of what they’re owed or won’t pay at all.

• Not paying overtimeCompanies must pay hourly employees 50 percent extra when they work more than 40hours a week. Bosses often tell workers that the company doesn’t pay overtimeand will continue paying the same hourly rate for longer hours. That is wagetheft. Some bosses expect people to work more than 40 hours a week but will onlypay them for 40 hours. That is also wage theft.

• Paying less than the minimum wageBusinesses must pay their workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour ormore. In many cities and states, the wage floor is higher. Many service industryworkers end up making less because of how their pay is structured. Businessescan pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour under federal law as long asthose employees earn enough tip money to reach the minimum wage. If service isslow and a worker doesn’t receive enough tips to reach the minimum, their bossis required to pay the difference. Often, bosses don’t do that, especially inthe restaurant industry.ARE ALL WORKERS ENTITLED TO OVERTIME PAY AND A MINIMUM WAGE?No. It depends on how much revenue a company earns, whether it does business inother states and whether employees receive an annual salary. For the most part,supervisors and high-skilled workers are not entitled to overtime pay. Companiesthat earn less than $500,000 in revenue each year are generally not subject tofederal overtime and minimum wage rules, but if they do business with people inother states, they are subject to the law. States with their own wage theft lawsmay have different rules, but they cannot offer workers less protection than theFair Labor Standards Act.ABOUT THIS SERIESU.S employers that illegally underpay workers face few repercussions, even whenthey do so repeatedly. This widespread practice perpetuates income inequality,hitting lowest-paid workers hardest.Read moreARE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS ENTITLED TO OVERTIME PAY AND A MINIMUM WAGE?Yes. Even if someone is not authorized to work in the United States, they areprotected from wage theft under the Fair Labor Standards Act. They can file acomplaint with the U.S. Department of Labor to recover unpaid wages, and theycan sue their employer in federal court.I AM A VICTIM OF WAGE THEFT. WHAT DO I DO?Check to see if your state has its own wage theft law that offers workers moreprotection than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Minnesota, New York,Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Virginia and California are a few that do. File acomplaint with the state’s labor or employment department.Another option is to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor.However, in most cases, the complaint must be filed within two years of the wagetheft incident. It normally takes the department about three months toinvestigate and close a case, so it might be faster to file a lawsuit in federalcourt.If you’re thinking about going through the courts, look for an attorney whotakes on wage and hour cases. Many won’t charge workers attorney’s fees becauseemployers will end up paying those fees if they are at fault. You can alsocontact your state’s Legal Aid office to see if they will take on your case forfree.https://publicintegrity.org/author/cap-alexia-fernandez-campbell/ALEXIA FERNÁNDEZ CAMPBELLAlexia Fernández Campbell is a senior investigative reporter at the Center forPublic Integrity in Washington,... More by Alexia Fernández Campbell