Question

how does wage theft effects employers ?

Answer 1

Wage theft does not discriminate and can affect everyone. The most common industries that wage theft affects are labor intensive and pay by the hour. Industries like; agriculture, construction, restaurants, and janitorial industries. This type of theft affects women and workers of color, they face higher rates of wage theft than other groups

The U.S. agricultural system has historically relied on the labor of the poor, many of whom have lacked full legal protections, including indentured laborers, sharecroppers, and undocumented migrants. Even U.S. citizen farmworkers can be taken advantage of due to poverty, limited legal protections, and a lack of knowledge about their legal rights.

Unauthorized and undocumented foreign-born workers have comprised roughly 50 percent of all farmworkers in the United States since 2001. Immigration laws and policies often make foreign-national workers even more vulnerable to human trafficking and wage theft in the U.S. While U.S. law does provide all workers with basic labor rights, many of these do not extend to migrant or seasonal workers. These workers are typically bound to the employer, thus making it more likely for these workers—with or without documents of citizenship- to be taken advantage of.

Agricultural workers are prone to be victims of trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. Employers often pay farmworkers in cash and by the amount of produce they pick. This tends to decrease the amount that workers earn due to the difficulty of picking.

Wage theft has huge consequences for workers across many different industries, who are just looking to receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Take action and fight for your rights as a Californian and worker