Wage Theft Nationally Underreported, Laws Under-Enforced

The Chicago consumer rights lawyers at Markoff Leinberger are aware of wage theft studies that state this growing unfair business practice, which includes overtime violations, effects workers at every income level.

However, a great deal of the emerging research on the subject of wage theft and overtime violations suggests that low-wage workers, particularly those who earn minimum wage, are the most broadly effected by wage theft, which is the (generally corporate) practice of systematically denying employees all or some portion of their wages and benefits.

One study that looks at how far-reaching the practice has become was released in 2010 by Policy Matters Ohio. It was penned by authors Zach Schiller and Sarah DeCarlo and called “Investigating Wage Theft.” This study took into account research from 43 states plus the District of Columbia.

The most cogent conclusion reached in this report was simply that state-by-state, there are not enough labor relations investigators to follow up on wage theft allegations, and this is negatively impacting worker wellness nationwide.

“Most states have laws requiring that workers are paid the wages they earn and that they are paid a minimum wage, as well as overtime for hours worked beyond a specific amount,” says the Policy Matters Ohio report. “The level of enforcement effort, as measured by investigators employed, varies dramatically from state to state. While a handful of larger states such as California and New York employ dozens of investigators, most states have fewer than 10… Adequate enforcement not only increases compliance with labor law, it improves worker well being.”

If you believe that you have been unfairly and perhaps systematically denied employment wages or benefits that are owed to you and which may include overtime violations, please contact the Chicago fraud lawyers at Markoff Leinberger online, or call 1 (888) 517-9115 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced consumer rights attorneys.

Request a FREE CASE EVALUATION

  • * All indicated fields must be completed.
    Please include non-medical questions and correspondence only.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Office Information

Office Hours

Monday-Friday: 9AM - 5PM Saturday-Sunday: Closed

Location Map:

Accessibility Toolbar

Scroll to Top