• Welcome to the Internet Infidels Discussion Board.

Wage theft

 
 
 
lpetrich

lpetrich

Contributor
Joined
Jul 27, 2000
Messages
26,850
Location
Eugene, OR
Gender
Male
Basic Beliefs
Atheist
AOC has now tweeted about wage theft, with an example from her waitress years.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "One of the largest forms of theft in the US today is wage theft." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I experienced it first hand as a waitress.
A manager forced me to clock out before I was done finishing my work, & I couldn’t leave.
When I spoke up about it, my schedule was changed to late, unusual, poorly tipping hours for a week.
(links)" / Twitter
linking to
An Epidemic of Wage Theft Is Costing Workers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year | Economic Policy Institute - US numbers
  • Wage theft
    • Minimum-wage violations: $23.20 B
    • Overtime violations: $8.80 B
    • Rest Break violations: $4.00 B
    • Off-the-clock violations: $3.20 B
    • (Total) $39.20 B
  • Other kinds of theft
    • Larceny: $5.30 B
    • Burglary: $4.10 B
    • Auto theft: $3.80 B
    • Robbery: $0.34 B
    • (Total) $13.54 B
Larceny = pickpocketing, purse snatching, shoplifting, etc.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’m curious - how has wage theft shown up in your life? Have you ever had an employer steal your wages?
(Wage theft isn’t just not receiving a check - it’s being forced to do work off the clock, not being paid for overtime, being denied breaks, etc.)
Share your stories below ⬇️" / Twitter
 
AOC requested examples of wage theft, and she got them:

Adriel Hampton 🌹 🌈🌈 on Twitter: "@AOC Un paid internships are a form of wage theft." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@adrielhampton Agreed - especially how many are structured today" / Twitter

Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben on Twitter: "@AOC Spent a summer in college interning for a member of congress. I saved up for a semester and was lucky to have family I could stay with. Unpaid internships are a huge barrier to anyone who can’t afford it and are tantamount to wage theft." / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@OliverHidWoh Yes. This is why we pay our interns! It’s worked out well: our interns are incredibly talented, brilliant, diverse, and come from working class backgrounds & local community.
Our youth get a life-changing opportunity & there’s 💯 no way we’d be able to do it if they were unpaid." / Twitter

steve. on Twitter: "@AOC When I worked in retail, commission based, and I wasn’t reaching my hourly sales goal I was *encouraged* to clock out and continue to sell product to hit my sales and ensure I could continue to receive hours the following week since they were all given to the highest sellers" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@CarIegend It’s such a common and brazen practice to be told or “encouraged” to clock out while still being told to work.
The veiled threat is that you need to work for free or else you won’t be able to work at all." / Twitter

dylan on Twitter: "@AOC having to come to mandatory off-the-clock “cleaning parties” where we cleaned the restaurant and were paid in pizza" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@spiritnght What on earth! This one’s bad" / Twitter
then
dylan on Twitter: "@AOC employees had to pay train fare both ways so it was actually like paying to come clean" / Twitter
then
dylan on Twitter: "@AOC i love you" / Twitter

bean to quar on Twitter: "@AOC when I was a professional chef I had to get there at 11 or 12 to prep for service, but couldn’t clock in until 3" / Twitter
then
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "@McLeemz 4 HOURS? 😧 prep work is no joke either" / Twitter
then
bean to quar on Twitter: "@AOC pretty common in fine dining restaurants (15 years ago anyway) when I left I threatened to sue and then they miraculously started paying everyone by the shift instead of by the hour 🧐" / Twitter
 
 
lpetrich said:
AOC has now tweeted about wage theft, with an example from her waitress years.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "One of the largest forms of theft in the US today is wage theft." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I experienced it first hand as a waitress.
A manager forced me to clock out before I was done finishing my work, & I couldn’t leave.
When I spoke up about it, my schedule was changed to late, unusual, poorly tipping hours for a week.
(links)" / Twitter
linking to
An Epidemic of Wage Theft Is Costing Workers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year | Economic Policy Institute - US numbers
  • Wage theft
    • Minimum-wage violations: $23.20 B
    • Overtime violations: $8.80 B
    • Rest Break violations: $4.00 B
    • Off-the-clock violations: $3.20 B
    • (Total) $39.20 B
  • Other kinds of theft
    • Larceny: $5.30 B
    • Burglary: $4.10 B
    • Auto theft: $3.80 B
    • Robbery: $0.34 B
    • (Total) $13.54 B
Larceny = pickpocketing, purse snatching, shoplifting, etc.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’m curious - how has wage theft shown up in your life? Have you ever had an employer steal your wages?
(Wage theft isn’t just not receiving a check - it’s being forced to do work off the clock, not being paid for overtime, being denied breaks, etc.)
Share your stories below ⬇️" / Twitter
Click to expand...

Sure, same thing happened to me. Actually, one of the best jobs that I ever had was being a waiter during graduate school. It taught me a lot about people. How to read them and etc. But it's a tough job, no doubt about it. I always tip well! Sorry for derail, but I don't thing that wage theft is too many people's worry today. Most of these jobs are gone. How many restaurants will survive covid-19? 30%? There are many people who will wish for those jobs back.
 
Winston Churchill : "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Covid-19 is being used as a wage theft opportunity.

Them : Profits are down, so we need to reduce your pay.
Me : Nope. Not until you show me your P&L report and the salary stats for everyone else in the company.

Them : Business is down. There just isn't enough work.
Me : That's an argument to reduce my hours, not my hourly rate.

Them : Working from home saves you a lot of time/money commuting.
Me : So what?

Them : If you dont agree to a pay cut we'll have to let you go.
Me : You'll 'let me' go? I dont need your permission to go and work for your competitor.
 
Lion IRC said:
Them : If you dont agree to a pay cut we'll have to let you go.
Me : You'll 'let me' go? I dont need your permission to go and work for your competitor.
Click to expand...

"According to this non-compete agreement you signed, yes you do."

BTW, if you're having that kind of conversation all you're doing is sowing the seeds of a bad recommendation.
Just sayin'.
 
Who signs a non-compete which binds them after involuntary separation of employment (termination)?

ETA - unless there's some gold-plated handcuffs
 
If you're in a disadvantaged position and your employer has all or most of the negotiating strength, the best protection you have against wage theft is to study your legal rights and pay attention to whether or not they are being infringed.

So many of the wage theft examples in the Ipetrich Op happen because of employee ignorance.
 
Harry Bosch said:
lpetrich said:
AOC has now tweeted about wage theft, with an example from her waitress years.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "One of the largest forms of theft in the US today is wage theft." / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I experienced it first hand as a waitress.
A manager forced me to clock out before I was done finishing my work, & I couldn’t leave.
When I spoke up about it, my schedule was changed to late, unusual, poorly tipping hours for a week.
(links)" / Twitter
linking to
An Epidemic of Wage Theft Is Costing Workers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year | Economic Policy Institute - US numbers
  • Wage theft
    • Minimum-wage violations: $23.20 B
    • Overtime violations: $8.80 B
    • Rest Break violations: $4.00 B
    • Off-the-clock violations: $3.20 B
    • (Total) $39.20 B
  • Other kinds of theft
    • Larceny: $5.30 B
    • Burglary: $4.10 B
    • Auto theft: $3.80 B
    • Robbery: $0.34 B
    • (Total) $13.54 B
Larceny = pickpocketing, purse snatching, shoplifting, etc.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’m curious - how has wage theft shown up in your life? Have you ever had an employer steal your wages?
(Wage theft isn’t just not receiving a check - it’s being forced to do work off the clock, not being paid for overtime, being denied breaks, etc.)
Share your stories below ⬇️" / Twitter
Click to expand...

Sure, same thing happened to me. Actually, one of the best jobs that I ever had was being a waiter during graduate school. It taught me a lot about people. How to read them and etc. But it's a tough job, no doubt about it. I always tip well! Sorry for derail, but I don't thing that wage theft is too many people's worry today. Most of these jobs are gone. How many restaurants will survive covid-19? 30%? There are many people who will wish for those jobs back.
Click to expand...

Not just workers wishing for jobs, also business owners wishing they still had their business and the income it provided.
 
Lion IRC said:
If you're in a disadvantaged position and your employer has all or most of the negotiating strength, the best protection you have against wage theft is to study your legal rights and pay attention to whether or not they are being infringed.

So many of the wage theft examples in the Ipetrich Op happen because of employee ignorance.
Click to expand...

https://freespeech.org/stories/the-wage-theft-epidemic/

No enforcers of the law

Even as the ranks of low-wage workers have swelled since the recession, Democratic and Republican legislatures in more than a dozen states have quietly slashed funding for the agencies that enforce minimum wage law. Budget cuts are no surprise in an era of austerity. Yet the effect of these cuts on wage-and-hour investigative units—charged with examining and settling wage disputes—has seriously compromised an essential line of defense for already vulnerable low-wage earners, according to experts. State labor officials and researchers around the country tell In These Times that low-wage workers facing abusive employers increasingly have nowhere to turn.

The victims of nonpayment of owed wages—referred to as “wage theft”—are most frequently workers at the bottom of the income scale. The U.S. Department of Labor, which significantly expanded its investigative force under former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, can take wage theft cases, but it is less familiar with local particulars and is prohibited from investigating many employers covered by state laws. Most private attorneys are unwilling to take wage theft cases, since they involve comparatively small sums of money.

Former investigators interviewed for this article say that budget cuts over the past decade have impeded their ability to perform meaningful investigations. They paint a stark picture of weakened enforcement divisions, lacking both necessary staff and funding, that regularly close claims of wage theft that appear legitimate. Such closed cases represent de facto wins for employers.
Click to expand...

Much more in the link.
 
Funny thing happened on my way to PhD. I discovered I had something people wanted so much they'd hire me and pay me more or less what I wanted with resources I needed to git'rdone with no side agreements. Even patents were mine granted to them to use only as long as I worked with them. Tough life.
 
fromderinside said:
Funny thing happened on my way to PhD. I discovered I had something people wanted so much they'd hire me and pay me more or less what I wanted with resources I needed to git'rdone with no side agreements. Even patents were mine granted to them to use only as long as I worked with them. Tough life.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sure. Everyone can get a PhD. :rolleyesa:
 
Lion IRC said:
Winston Churchill : "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Covid-19 is being used as a wage theft opportunity.

Them : Profits are down, so we need to reduce your pay.
Me : Nope. Not until you show me your P&L report and the salary stats for everyone else in the company.

Them : Business is down. There just isn't enough work.
Me : That's an argument to reduce my hours, not my hourly rate.

Them : Working from home saves you a lot of time/money commuting.
Me : So what?

Them : If you dont agree to a pay cut we'll have to let you go.
Me : You'll 'let me' go? I dont need your permission to go and work for your competitor.
Click to expand...

What if the competitor tells you the same story, and because they are all in much the position, the next few firms that you try. What then?
 
Is it "wage theft" if the employer replaces you with cheap labor?

According to Marxist rhetoric, ALL wage-labor is theft, and every penny of profit a capitalist gains is stolen from the working class.


lpetrich said:
linking to
An Epidemic of Wage Theft Is Costing Workers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year | Economic Policy Institute - US numbers


  • Minimum-wage violations: $23.20 B
  • Overtime violations: $8.80 B
  • Rest Break violations: $4.00 B
  • Off-the-clock violations: $3.20 B
  • (Total) $39.20 B

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "I’m curious - how has wage theft shown up in your life? Have you ever had an employer steal your wages?


(Wage theft isn’t just not receiving a check - it’s being forced to do work off the clock, not being paid for overtime, being denied breaks, etc.)
Share your stories below ⬇️" / Twitter
Click to expand...


You're not "being forced to" work if you're free to quit.

Just because govt. passes laws requiring employers to pay workers more than they're worth and the employer finds ways to circumvent these laws does not constitute "theft" by that employer.

If you think it does, then, e.g., when some countries prohibited the hiring of Jews for some jobs, and a company circumvented those laws, to get better work done, or less costly work, then you're saying those employers were committing "theft" against non-Jews they should have hired instead. And also those Jewish workers were engaging in "theft" by "stealing" those jobs from the Gentiles who could have been hired legally. According to A.O.C. and other Crybaby Economics crusaders.
 
If you need to earn a wage or salary, you have to work, if not for this firm or business then that firm or business. Shifting from one place of work to another does not free you from the need to make a living.
 
ZiprHead said:
fromderinside said:
Funny thing happened on my way to PhD. I discovered I had something people wanted so much they'd hire me and pay me more or less what I wanted with resources I needed to git'rdone with no side agreements. Even patents were mine granted to them to use only as long as I worked with them. Tough life.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sure. Everyone can get a PhD. :rolleyesa:
Click to expand...

Oh. Sorry. I thought everybody understood that to get one one requires a bit luck, persistence, support, required hoops jumped and, for many, a bit of patience.

Much easier than what's required for one to become successful where soul selling often necessary.
 
Harry Bosch said:
Lion IRC said:
Who signs a non-compete which binds you after involuntary separation of employment (termination)?
Click to expand...

People who need a job. BTW: non compete aren't enforceable in most states.
Click to expand...

Right and right. But the Company usually has legal on retainer so no skin off their teeth to threaten, cajole and otherwise coerce.
After selling startup #2, the acquiring Company took issue with the pre-existing name of the parent Company we had had in place since prior to the inception of the entity that they purchased, as it contained a character subset that was common to both the brand they purchased and the parent Company we retained. Our lawyers basically told us "you will certainly win if you go to court over this, and it will cost between 100 and 200 thousand, which the court may or may not order your purchaser to pay". We changed the name of our parent Company.
 
fromderinside said:
ZiprHead said:
fromderinside said:
Funny thing happened on my way to PhD. I discovered I had something people wanted so much they'd hire me and pay me more or less what I wanted with resources I needed to git'rdone with no side agreements. Even patents were mine granted to them to use only as long as I worked with them. Tough life.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sure. Everyone can get a PhD. :rolleyesa:
Click to expand...

Oh. Sorry. I thought everybody understood that to get one one requires a bit luck, persistence, support, required hoops jumped and, for many, a bit of patience.

Much easier than what's required for one to become successful where soul selling often necessary.
Click to expand...

tenor.gif
 
Lumpenproletariat said:
...Just because govt. passes laws requiring employers to pay workers more than they're worth and the employer finds ways to circumvent these laws does not constitute "theft" by that employer.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this argument cut both ways?

...I'm not paid as much as I deserve, so I will take what's rightfully mine - some printer cartridges, a bit of office stationery, a little bit of cash from the till.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom