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Wage theft is the largest form of theft by a wide margin. Everything from not paying people at all for contracted work, forcing people to work overtime without

Wage theft is the largest form of theft by a wide margin. Everything from not paying people at all for contracted work, forcing people to work overtime without additional pay, structuring contracts/agreements in terms of bonuses that can never be attained with the insane performance requirements, to paying people late.

SR2Z 6mo ago
To be fair, in most states you don't even have to sue to recover back wages. You just file a report with the state labor board, who are empowered to bring legal action on your behalf.
- hilariously 5mo ago
  And that might take years if anything happens at all, this isn't an easy process and one that will absolutely end in retaliation in most work places.
hollerith 6mo ago
>Wage theft is the largest form of theft by a wide margin I doubt that is true in the US for sensible definitions of wage theft. >structuring contracts/agreements in terms of bonuses that can never be attained with the insane performance requirements I disagree that this is theft although it might be exploitation if the employee has less experience or knowledge than the employer.
- esseph 5mo ago
  > I doubt that is true in the US for sensible definitions of wage theft. It is absolutely true. Here's the raw data, you can look for yourself. Kind of shocked someone on HN doesn't already know this. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/data/charts/all-acts https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/data/charts/all-acts > Wage theft in the U.S. is a massive, underreported problem, with estimates showing employers steal over $15 billion to $50 billion annually from workers. This surpasses the combined value of all reported robbery, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, which totaled significantly less, making wage theft the largest form of theft in the country. https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-forms-theft-workers/ https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-fo...

SR2Z 6mo ago

To be fair, in most states you don't even have to sue to recover back wages. You just file a report with the state labor board, who are empowered to bring legal action on your behalf.

hilariously 5mo ago
And that might take years if anything happens at all, this isn't an easy process and one that will absolutely end in retaliation in most work places.

hollerith 6mo ago

>Wage theft is the largest form of theft by a wide margin I doubt that is true in the US for sensible definitions of wage theft. >structuring contracts/agreements in terms of bonuses that can never be attained with the insane performance requirements I disagree that this is theft although it might be exploitation if the employee has less experience or knowledge than the employer.

esseph 5mo ago
> I doubt that is true in the US for sensible definitions of wage theft. It is absolutely true. Here's the raw data, you can look for yourself. Kind of shocked someone on HN doesn't already know this. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/data/charts/all-acts https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/data/charts/all-acts > Wage theft in the U.S. is a massive, underreported problem, with estimates showing employers steal over $15 billion to $50 billion annually from workers. This surpasses the combined value of all reported robbery, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, which totaled significantly less, making wage theft the largest form of theft in the country. https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-forms-theft-workers/ https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-fo...