WAGE THEFT. Presented To: Texas Labor & Employee Relations Consortium. Presented By: GARY L. INGRAM JACKSON WALKER L.L.P

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Rosamund Terry
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2 What is Wage Theft?

3 General Definition Wage Theft occurs when employers cheat workers out of wages owed by various methods.

4 Common Wage Theft Examples

5 Misclassify employees to keep them from receiving overtime pay Example

6 More Examples Issuing paychecks that do not reflect total compensation owed OR Issuing paychecks that bounce OR Refusing to issue or withholding paychecks (particularly a final paycheck)

7 Keeping or diverting an employee s tips More Examples

8 Examples of Wage Theft Through Pressure Pressure employees to pay to keep their jobs OR Pressure employees to pay for their own safety equipment which the employer is mandated by law to provide at no cost OR Pressure employees to work off the clock to reduce labor costs

9 Minimum Wage Theft Occurs when workers are paid below FLSA minimum wage ($7.25/hr) because: 1. Bargain struck with employer 2. Paid by the job at below statutory hourly rate required 3. Deductions/offsets/or rounding errors reduce pay below minimum wage rate

10 Wage Theft by Time Clock Adjustments Managers force employees to work through lunch/rest breaks and do not treat as time worked (sometimes referred to as the Wal-Mart pinch ) OR Managers rework an employee s work time hours from day-to-day or week-toweek to avoid overtime premium pay

11 Common FLSA Wage Theft Joint Employment ( jobbers, day labor, subcontractors ) Contingent Workers ( self-employed independent contractors ) Interns ( trainees, students, temp-toperms ) Issues

12 What s the Harm? 2-3 million American workers are not being paid required minimum wage rate 3 million workers are misclassified as independent contractors More than $19 billion in unpaid overtime owed is stolen each year from employees More than $1 billion is paid by employers annually to settle unpaid overtime claims

13 Legal Remedies to Stop Wage Theft Fair Labor Standards Act remedies National Labor Relations Act remedies State/Local wage theft laws/ordinances Penal Code (criminal) penalties

14 Fair Labor Standards Act Enforced by Department of Labor Primarily addresses civil remedies for minimum wage and overtime pay violations Provides for collective action remedies to be sought for a class of similarly-situated employees Provides remedy for employer retaliation against complaining workers (including informal verbal complaints Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, U.S. Sup. Ct., 2011)

15 National Labor Relations Act ( NLRA ) Enforced by the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB ) NLRB Region 16 office is located in Fort Worth, TX Section 8 (a)(1) of the NLRA makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed in Sec. 7 of the NLRA, including the right to engage in protected concerted activities. Wage-related examples: (A) Wage discussions are protected concerted activities in both unionized and non-unionized work places (B) Having a rule against discussing wages is unlawful, even if no employee has engaged in protected concerted activity by discussing wages (C) Using social media/internet to engage in protected activities, including negative or critical comments about employer, may be protected in certain instances

State/Local Laws Against Wage Theft has been described as a national epidemic which has prompted most states and many local governments to enact

16 State/Local Laws Against Wage Theft has been described as a national epidemic which has prompted most states and many local governments to enact wage theft laws and local ordinances Internet websites and organized campaigns focused upon passing stronger wage theft laws have multiplied Wage Theft

17 Texas Reponse to Wage Theft Texas Legislature passed a groundbreaking Wage Theft Bill (SB 1024) which was signed by Gov. Perry May 27, 2011 Makes it easier for police departments to arrest employers who fail to pay their workers in full; Closed a legal loophole which allowed employers to avoid criminal theft of services charges (Penal Code 31.04) by making a minimal payment to their workers Texas Payday Law and Texas Labor Code (Code ) provide civil remedies for victims of wage theft. The Texas Workforce Commission can order an employer to pay wages owed if the employer acted in bad faith.

18 Texas Response to Wage Theft (cont.) Wage Theft campaigns in El Paso and Austin resulted in local laws enacting stiffer criminal penalties and creating task forces against employers found guilty of wage theft. In April 2013, an El Paso roofing contractor was indicted for alleged wage theft by the El Paso Wage Theft task force In , the Workers Defense Project acted as part of an Austin task force which worked with police to obtain arrests and indictments for alleged wage theft violations Wage Theft campaigns seeking stiffer criminal penalties and wage theft indictments are being spear-headed by the Workers Defense Project in Houston and Dallas

19 New Texas Legislation Aimed at Wage Theft SB 340 (By Rodriguez, Vande Putte): Would make administrative penalties mandatory for bad faith wage theft violations if employer: (1) has a history of previous wage violations (2) fails to pay wages as an act of discrimination or retaliation (3) fails to pay wages to multiple employees at the same time (4) fails to pay wages knowing such failure was a violation of state law (5) shows reckless disregard for the requirements of state law Note: In 2012, the Texas Workforce Commission found bad faith in less than 12% of the 1,028 cases filed; current law does not define bad faith. Note: SB 340 was pending in a House committee at the end of the legislative session, and it is unclear if it will be considered in a Special Session.

20 Other Wage-Related Legislation HB 950: Passed and sent to Gov. Perry for signature would extend the time limit for filing claims of pay discrimination to include each pay period in which an allegedly discriminatory underpayment was made (regardless of when the practice began) similar to the federal Lilly Ledbetter statute

Wage Discrimination and the Difficulty of Proof

Public Interest Law Reporter Volume 13 Issue 1 Winter 2008 Article 10 2008 Wage Discrimination and the Difficulty of Proof Jason Lewis Follow this and additional works at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/pilr