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Report: Wage theft in the US is ‘an epidemic’
So, why is it that forcing an $8-per-hour employee to work for 60 minutes “off the clock” is not an equally big deal? According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), that kind of stealing – wage theft – is a big problem in America. Collectively, it is costing some of our lowest-paid workers hundreds of millions of dollars every year that they cannot afford to lose.
MORE HERE: http://wonkynewsnerd.com/report-wage-theft-in-the-us-is-an-epidemic/
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Adam051188
(711 posts)gotta compete to stay competitive!
if you don't want the job the guy on the street corner might decide he does!
if you don't like it move!
daleanime
(17,796 posts)
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Adam051188
(711 posts)amazing how things like that take off here. imagine someone trying to sell a slogan like that in a first world country? they'd be laughed at.
Trillo
(9,154 posts)I'm just wondering if yours is yet another Republican business owner with buzzwords of the past -- or a real Paul Revere.
Are you saying these Americans, and this organization, are essentially communists?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Question book-new.svg
This article relies on references to primary sources. Please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. (February 2010)
Economic Policy Institute Formation 1986
Founder Jeff Faux, Lester Thurow, Ray Marshall, Barry Bluestone, Robert Reich, Robert Kuttner
Type Public policy think tank
Location
1333 H Street
Washington, DC
Lawrence Mishel President
Revenue $6,573,520 (2010)[1]
Slogan Research and ideas for shared prosperity
Website www.epi.org
The Economic Policy Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit American think tank based in Washington, D.C.[2] EPI presents a liberal[3] viewpoint on economic issues. EPI has a sister organization, the EPI Policy Center, which is a 501(c)(4) organization.
EPI advocates for low- to moderate-income families in the United States.[4] EPI also assesses current economic policies and proposes new policies that EPI believes will protect and improve the living standards of working families.[2]
Contents
1 History
2 Areas of research
3 EPI projects
3.1 The State of Working America
3.2 Economic Analysis and Research Network
3.3 Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy
3.4 Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
4 Policy proposals
5 Funding
6 References
History
EPI was founded in 1986 by economists Jeff Faux, Lester Thurow, Ray Marshall, Barry Bluestone, Robert Reich, and Robert Kuttner.[2] EPI's president is Lawrence Mishel.
Areas of research
EPI’s work and activities cover twelve main issue areas,[5] including education; federal budget, deficits, and taxes; health; jobs, wages, and living standards; immigration; labor policy; macroeconomic performance; public investment; race and ethnicity; regulation; retirement; trade and globalization.
EPI projects
The State of Working America
The State of Working America is EPI’s flagship publication and has been published regularly since 1988. The book examines the U.S. economy’s impact on the living standards of working families by analyzing data on family incomes, wages, jobs, unemployment, wealth, and poverty.[6] EPI launched StateofWorkingAmerica.org in 2011, putting the publication online for the first time.
Economic Analysis and Research Network
EPI coordinates the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN), a nationwide network of state and regional multi-issue advocacy, policy, and research organizations that operate on a local level. EARN includes 57 organizations in 43 states.[7]
Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy
EPI launched the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy (PREE) in 2008 to address economic inequalities and challenges faced by racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. PREE’s goal is to advance policies that help working people of color participate fully in and gain equitably from the American economy.[8]
Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
EPI launched the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education (BBA) in 2008. BBA is a national campaign that acknowledges the impact of social and economic disadvantages on both schools and students and proposes evidence-based policies to remedy conditions that limit many children’s readiness to learn.[9]
Policy proposals
In July 2012, EPI joined forces with the AFL-CIO, Center for Community Change, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Council of La Raza and SEIU to propose a budget plan titled Prosperity Economics, a counter to the Republican Party's Path to Prosperity budget plan. The Prosperity Economics plan suggests that major public investment in areas like infrastructure is needed to jump-start the economy.[10]
In response to the debate over the United States fiscal cliff, EPI economist Josh Bivens advocated taxing the rich, writing "Given this rise in [income] inequality, it makes sense that much of the future burden of reducing budget deficits should be borne by those who have benefited the most from economic trends in recent decades."[11]
Funding
Eight labor unions made a five-year funding pledge to EPI at its inception: AFSCME, United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, United Mine Workers, International Association of Machinists, Communications Workers of America, Service Employees International Union, and United Food and Commercial Workers Union.[12] According to EPI, about 29% of its funding between 2005 and 2009 was supplied by labor unions and about 53% came from foundation grants.[2]
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Adam051188
(711 posts)no one is willing to say what is actually going on. i'm talking about the abject failure of the voodoo nonsense economics the american fascist state has been peddling since a couple decades before the formation of the federal reserve bank.
capitalism is a disaster. the western world is the richest, most powerful political entity the world has ever known and it is destroying itself from within due to it's own inability to come to terms with the reality of it's irrational beliefs.
capitalism is economic monarchy. why is monarchy bad? because people with power over other people abuse their power.
what is happening in the u.s. right now is a loose coalition of well funded groups are trying to slap some lipstick on this pig and keep her running for a few more decades. bring back a few unions, raise the minimum wage, toss in the ACA or maybe some medicare for everyone and vuala, an economy that cannot be reasonably described as neo-feudal.
and then the u.s. gets to remain a semi-backwater nation on par with russia in every respect except for our aircraft carriers, population size, and....there must be something else....i'll think of it....
leftstreet
(36,109 posts)
KT2000
(20,584 posts)An all too common business model.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=102341
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)So you are at the mercy of their recommendations and informal power to grant particular hours/time off and other form of good will. You start to receive compensation in the form of trades and "opportunities" instead of actual money. Part of the psychology behind this is that poor people are in a stance of dependence and permanent gratitude, so they should be grateful for any "opportunities" whether paid or not. But if the poor person weren't seen as being on their knees in gratitude, the relationship would be recognized for what it is: crass exploitation - getting their labor and talents for cheap or free because the poor person has no other choice. The exploiter gets the additional bonus of feeling power over another person and enjoying their gratitude for the opportunity!
One little recognized issue in this category is making employees volunteer for "good causes". A few employers are guilty of this one in my area. The employees feel pressured to do it. The employer gets the credit, the interviews, the reputation as a "good person", the book contract. The employees get to go back to their minimum wage jobs on Monday, having given up a weekend they could have spent with their families, or perhaps at a "good cause" of their own choosing.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)the poorer you feel, the more power people have over you.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)Especially once you're so poor that you get caught in "the system", and you're obliged to do a lot of volunteer work for the sake of networking, poorly paid under-the-table work for the sake of survival, and a lot of unpaid "make work" in the name establishing your "attitude" and "work discipline".
For instance, just how many times, and in how many different systems, and on how many different paper forms do I have to re-enter the same set of "work experience" before I've officially had enough "practice" and/or proven I'm willing to meekly comply with orders? The sheer meaninglessness and repetitiveness is so demoralizing - especially when I start to think about how I could be learning some new work skill instead of filling out the SAME form for the gazillionth time. But I do it because in the eye of the State, I have "nothing better to do" and making me fill out form widgets on a form assembly line is "helping me". If I don't do it, I lose services that could actually help me get a job, and I might lose the informal favor of some case worker.
Also, as long as you're in a position of need, everyone in your life who is (genuinely) trying to help you, will be sending you information on (mostly unpaid) opportunities - and will be very disappointed if you don't take their advice (and possibly drift away from helping you) since obviously your poverty proves that whatever you're doing isn't working out for you.
The pressure on people who are poor is very high, and the irony is a lot of it is stress from unrecognized overwork. 3-4 times a week I find myself committed to being more than one place at the same time (travel included) and terrified at the implications of losing the favor of and/or dealing with the judgment of the parties involved ---- just like you're average harried worker except I'm not paid for it: I go without basic necessities and bear the constant risk of homelessness instead.
It's all a continuum: the further down you go in the power hierarchy, the more your labor and "answerability" becomes unpaid.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)
BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)the power is quite real.
GoCubsGo
(32,086 posts)
Fearless
(18,421 posts)When reported it is ignored. Corporations don't give a crap about you.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)$9.00 an hour is just too much to pay a guy with a family!?
Fearless
(18,421 posts)For instance on a similar topic... I get chewed out if my closing server isn't out in time... Say they're a half hour late... In MA servers get $2.63 an hour plus tips. That half hour costs the company $1.32! So I'll get chewed out by a district manager over the phone for fifteen minutes for ensuring the restaurant is clean at the end of the night!
Then of course I'm supposed to discipline the server. While I flat out lie about doing so, many will actually do it thinking that they're being good employees. Then the server pleads with the manager to let them work off the clock or simply doesn't tell them and does so so that they don't get yelled at and possibly risk losing their job for doing their job! Of course the manager knows they do this and let's it go because they won't be yelled at either. It's disgusting!!
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)It wasn't much like that in the 80's, I didn't encounter any wage theft or much work beyond my job description.
I feel for all of the restaurant employees today. It's gotta be rough.
Monk06
(7,675 posts)In terms of thievery that is double dipping which is brilliant in a sick sort of way.
If restaurant owners could get their meat from the cattle for free they would do that too.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)
Laelth
(32,017 posts)-Laelth
daleanime
(17,796 posts)
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)Understaffing leads to not being able to finish 8 hours work in 8 1/2 hours, so you stay for another hour. And then you need to chart. And then they tell you it is costing too much and you can't have any overtime. Or cut your 8 1/2 hour shift to 4 1/2 hours saying another nurse can cover the rest of it. Seriously.
And for minimum wage workers? ARGH. It happens too much, too often across the board.
Fearless
(18,421 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,366 posts)Thanks for the thread, LuckyTheDog.
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)defers to the wealthy in those delicate corporate matters because America's CEOs shovel loads of cash to politicians and we wouldn't want anything to happen to that money stream, would we? After all, look how well the rich have done during the "recovery". The other 99% of us, perhaps not so well.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)The only way management will understand how much staff or work time is needed, is if the employees won't work off the clock.
Don't know if it was company policy or just that particular theater manager, but some years ago when my sons both worked at the local multiplex, we'd gone up to see a movie. When we were in the lobby the manager asked my sons if they'd help him bring in some supplies that just arrived. They said, sure, and would have done it willingly, but the next thing he said, was, "Go clock in." They worked maybe ten or fifteen minutes, but he wouldn't let it be off the clock.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)but such is the modern american workplace.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)And it's the easiest way to get rich. Just ask the Walton heirs.
NBachers
(17,122 posts)"Go punch out, then clean up."
One time, we got a bunch of us together and went to the State Employment Service with our complaints.
Nothing ever happened, nothing ever changed.
kmlisle
(276 posts)It passed in 2013 and the state legislature immediately introduced a bill that would have weakened it significantly. The original ordinance was passed in Miami and then Broward County and then my home, Alachua County in North Florida. Those counties pushed back and the legislation failed. Since it was instituted about 6 months ago in our town of 125,000 has returned about 10,000 dollars in lost wages to workers (as of August 2014). In Miami which has had the ordinance for several years millions have been returned. If you expand that to the entire country the amount being stolen is staggering!
The service as it works here essentially acts as a mediator between worker and employer with documentation required from workers and if the owner refuses to pay they can be fined. When the mediator approaches the employer with the documentation they usually pay up fairly rapidly. For the worker where the average claim is 200 dollars or less there are no lawyer fees that would have eaten up the returns and the money goes directly into their pockets!
The labor council educated the public about this issue and one of the things I learned was that a common wage theft is on tips included in the bill on your credit card. The owners will take a percentage or all of it so I try to carry cash for tips and give it directly to the wait staff.
If you are interested in this for your county or town here is the labor council's web site on wage theft. Te whole story is there. http://acwttf.org/
cemaphonic
(4,138 posts)The managers would regularly make people clock out (or "helpfully" do it for them) at the store closing time, and then make everyone stick around for another half-hour or more cleaning up. When I told the manager that I was leaving at 9, or staying on the clock, I got a lot of pressure and talk about teamwork and the unfairness of making other employees work even longer. Being a bit naive, and liking my coworkers, this even worked a few times, but I got fed up and went back to my earlier request. I thought they'd just fire me, but I think they decided that since I wasn't actually dependent on the job, and was a fairly dependable employee (and since having a smart teenager aggrieved at you when you're skirting labor laws was asking for trouble) they started letting me go at closing, which of course made it look like I was getting some sort of special treatment to everyone else.
One of the women that worked there was really nice, really talented, and so good with the customers that she drove a ton of repeat business into the store (customers would specifically ask for her, and if she wasn't available, they would find out when she would be back to get their work done.) Any sensible manager would have bent over backwards to keep an employee like that happy, but our jackass manager had her so keyed up with stress that she might lose her job that she worked dozens of unpaid hours every month. And then when she finally had enough, and found a better job, he tried going through her friends to guilt her into coming back. That place was goddamn infuriating, but it was good motivation for getting a good education.
I have a friend who had a job once where his employer was constantly trying to pay him in barter. As in "Say, thanks for repairing those accordions, how about I give you this pallet of blue jeans as payment?"
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)several times as a teen. I remember thinking how unfair it was. When, as an adult, I got my first full time retail job, at first I went along with it - closing only took 5-10 minutes so I didn't feel like it was worth it to complain. Until they decided we were not allowed to count cash when a customer was in the store, nor were we allowed to remind the customer we were now closed. Many times I had to stay an extra hour. I started keeping track. I looked up the labor law (where I live) and made sure I made a photocopy (ah, back before the internet) and kept it with my log I kept of my overtime hours. When the employer decided to let me go, which in itself is quite a story of a breaking of labor laws, after I got him to agree to give me a good reference, I showed him my log of hours and told him that I expected those hours to be on my final check, seeing as it was against the law for them to make me work that extra time with no pay, and that I was sure their company MEANT to follow the law, surely it must be some kind of oversight.
The hours were on my final check (several hundred dollars). I'm sure they did not expect a 20 year old to cite the specific labor law they were breaking. And it turns out I never needed their reference anyway.
Now that I have teens who are working, I make sure I let them know what their rights are. So far, their employer (they work for the same place, local grocery store) is very good. Everyone clocks in when they show up and clock out only when they are done and leaving. I don't think it happens as much anymore where I live (robust economy here).
Rex
(65,616 posts)They get ya coming in and going out!
