January 01, 2010
/24-7PressRelease/ --
Study Finds That Low-Wage Workers Are Treated Unfairly
Article provided by Law Offices of Rheuban & Gresen
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In examining the prevalence of low-wage workers cheated out of compensation, the authors of a recent study expressed shock at results showing 68 percent of the workers surveyed had experienced a pay violation in the immediately preceding workweek. The study, titled "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," found that the average worker's pay was reduced 15 percent by the documented violations of fair labor laws. The violations included sub-minimum-wage pay, time off the clock that was wrongly uncompensated, unpaid or underpaid overtime, inadequate or nonexistent meal breaks, late pay, illegal deductions and failure to provide a pay stub.
Los Angeles was among the three venues where the study examined employers' treatment of low-wage workers. The study focused on the most vulnerable worker population: 63.4 percent of the overall survey respondents were Latino/Latina, 13.5 percent were black, 16.8 percent Asian and 6.3 percent Caucasian. But more telling, 70 percent of the low-wage employees surveyed were foreign born and 38.8 percent of them were "unauthorized."
With close to 40 percent of the survey sample consisting of workers who are not authorized to be working in the United States, the exploitation factor is multifaceted. What some see as exploitation of workers, others are likely to see as exploitation of the system by the workers themselves. Their tolerance of poor working conditions due to their illegal status may contribute to employers' practices concerning all workers.
In fact, the second-highest rate of employer retaliatory conduct complained of by workers in the survey was the combined category of "employer threatened to fire workers or call immigration authorities." The threat of firing holds vast sway over vulnerable workers, particularly when the economy is fragile and new jobs aren't readily available. And for low-wage workers subject to deportation, the threat of a report to immigration authorities is even more influential.
Wage and hour lawsuits have been growing, from 3,671 in 2004 to 4,039 in 2005, a 10 percent increase. Labor lawyers attribute the surge to changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act enacted in 2004, as well as state law rulings favorable to employees.
When the California Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that employer compensation owed to employees for missed meals or rest periods constituted wages, the result was an increase to three years from one year in the statute of limitations for bringing such claims.
This legal ruling alone dramatically increased the number of wage claims in California.
Many lawsuits challenging employers who cheat low-income workers are certified as class actions, complex litigation that necessitates representation by lawyers. By challenging unfair labor practices in class action lawsuits, small back pay claims by multiple workers can be addressed in one forum with the potential to obtain across-the-board changes in payment practices by employers out of compliance with fair labor laws.
Article provided by Law Offices of Rheuban & Gresen
Visit us at
www.rglawyers.com---
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