Wage Theft National Day of Action: Friday, November 18th

Friday, November 18th is National Wage Theft Day of Action as declared by one of our national partners, Interfaith Worker Justice. The Tompkins County Workers’ Center began its Workers Rights Hotline in the spring of 2003. A full 20% of the people that we’ve encountered through the Hotline have come to us as a result of Wage Theft happening to them in their workplace. The TCWC has won wage theft judgments of more than $1,300,000 for 350+ workers.

Wage Theft includes:

  • violations of minimum wage laws;
  • non-payment of time-and-a-half overtime pay;
  • workers being forced to work off the clock;
  • workers not receiving their final paychecks;
  • workers having their tips stolen by management;
  • payroll fraud through worker misclassification as independent contractors.

Wage theft is an insidious national crime. According to the Economic Policy Institute, workers in the United States have an estimated $50 billion in wages stolen from them each year. That’s more than wage-theftthree times the $14 billion lost in burglaries, larcenies, stolen cars, and robberies.

Stopping wage theft can only happen if people report it!

If you are ever the victim of Wage Theft, know of SOMEONE ELSE who might be the victim of Wage Theft, or suspect that a particular industry of workers at a specific worksite are the victims of Wage Theft (If You See Something, Say Something), please consider reaching out to us at our Hotline, 607-269-0409. You can also send an email to TCWRH@tcworkerscenter.org