<\/p>\n
Losing money that is rightfully yours is a heartbreaking and debilitating experience that affects not only the victim of wage theft, but the victim’s family and loved ones as well. Here are some of their stories.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Juana\u2019s Story from National Council of La Raza<\/strong><\/p>\n Juana is a single mother who supported her family by working 11-hour days as a cook in a restaurant where she earned $7.50 an hour, received no benefits or paid leave, and was never paid on time. Shortly before telling this story, Juana quit her job because her employer owed her nearly $3,000 in compensation for more than six weeks of work. Juana\u2019s situation is common in the low-wage labor market, where informal work arrangements often include long and irregular hours, no overtime pay, no breaks, no paid vacation or sick time, and inconsistent payment, often in cash.<\/em><\/p>\n I was the only woman there and it was up to me to do everything in the kitchen of a restaurant that sold rotisserie chicken. I made all kinds of food: tamales, pupusas, and all the traditional dishes. I had some problems with my boss because he was not one to pay on time. Right now he owes us three paychecks, and he is even behind on our pay from last year. This pay period I left because I couldn\u2019t take it anymore. He owes me one check of $1,000 and two more of $900.<\/em><\/p>\n In the two years that Juana worked at the rotisserie chicken restaurant, she never knew when she could expect to be paid. Juana\u2019s employer told her and her coworkers that he couldn\u2019t pay them regularly because he had to cover the restaurant\u2019s operating expenses, including the rent and supplies.<\/em><\/p>\n I know the pressures he faces, but I get mad. Thankfully, with God\u2019s help, I was saving some of the little that I earned. When he would say that he couldn\u2019t pay us, I would leave him alone until he could. There are three of us who work there. The other women are still there waiting. They say that they are going to wait because our boss just has to pay us. They have hope. We were always there waiting because we needed the work. Sometimes you think that you can\u2019t go anywhere else and you stay.<\/em><\/p>\n Juana\u2019s missing pay has affected her health and her family\u2019s well-being. While she waits for her employer to pay her, she has had to move her family and rely on the part-time wages of her two teenage sons.<\/em><\/p>\n You have to think about supporting your children and your stress goes up. Recently I moved because I don\u2019t have enough to pay my rent. I\u2019m just going to go back to talk to [my former boss], and I hope he can pay me even if it\u2019s only for one pay period, or maybe he\u2019ll pay me later. That is what I\u2019m going to go see, and if he doesn\u2019t pay me, well then I will have to get help. I can\u2019t lose. That was my work that cost so much sacrifice.<\/em><\/p>\n Thank goodness my sons are studying and working now. My youngest son goes to school and works at night. He doesn\u2019t make much, only $450 every two weeks. My other son also makes very little because he works a part-time job. They say to me, \u201cMama, don\u2019t work! You shouldn\u2019t work if they don\u2019t pay you. What are you doing?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Juana decided she would rather have no job and look for something new than continue to work and not be paid. As she searches for a new job, Juana has taken on temporary work cleaning and cooking to support her family. She has not given up on the back pay she is owed, but she hopes that she can find something better.<\/em><\/p>\n Source \u2013 Story from the National Council of La Raza,\u00a0We Need the Work; Latino Workers Voices in the New Economy<\/a>, 7\/5\/11<\/p>\n Unpaid Overtime<\/strong><\/p>\n A sandwich shop hired an \u201cAssistant Manager\u201d to help in the day-to-day operation of the business. She worked for over 10 years for the restaurant and had seniority over many of her coworkers. As such, she often would open and close the shop, and would train new hires. Other than that, her job duties were exactly the same or similar to those of her coworkers. She made sandwiches, worked the register, and cleaned the restaurant. Because she regularly opened and closed the restaurant, she routinely worked 12 to 16 hours a day. Unlike her coworkers, her employer did not pay her overtime for any hours that she worked in excess of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week, claiming she was a salaried employee and therefore exempt from payment of overtime.<\/em><\/p>\n In actuality, this \u201cAssistant Manager\u201d was not an exempt employee, but was entitled to payment of overtime wages for any hours worked over 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. She was misclassified by her employer as exempt from overtime, even though her job duties were virtually the same as those of her coworkers.<\/em><\/p>\n