Wage/Hour study indicates exposure

We have noted a rise in wage/hour litigation in our offices. A lot of it is driven by belated investigation of contractors post-Katrina practices. But violations occur in many industries. A recent academic study indicates widespread violations in three major metropolitan areas - Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The survey's advisory board includes both SEIU and UNITE locals. The focus of the survey is upon urban low wage workers. The study concludes more aggressive enforcement is needed to ensure compliance.  Bullet summary after the jump

• Fully 26 percent of workers in our sample were paid less than the legally required minimum wage in the previous work week.
• These minimum wage violations were not trivial in magnitude: 60 percent of workers were underpaid by more than $1 per hour. 
• Over a quarter of our respondents worked more than 40 hours during the previous week. Of those, 76 percent were not paid the legally required overtime rate by their employers. 
• Like minimum wage violations, overtime violations were of substantial magnitude. The average worker with a violation had put in 11 hours of overtime—hours that were either underpaid or not paid at all. 
• Nearly a quarter of the workers in our sample came in early and/or stayed late after their shift during the previous work week. Of these workers, 70 percent did not receive any pay at all for the work they performed outside of their regular shift.
• The large majority of our respondents (86 percent) worked enough consecutive hours to be legally entitled to at least one meal break during the previous week. Of these workers, more than two-thirds (69 percent) received no break at all, had their break shortened, were interrupted by their employer, or worked during the break—all of which constitute a violation of meal break law. 
• Of the tipped workers in our sample, 30 percent were not paid the tipped worker. In addition, 12 percent of tipped workers experienced tip stealing by their employer or supervisor, which is illegal.
• One in five workers in our sample reported that they had made a complaint to their employer or attempted to form a union in the last year. Of those, 43 percent experienced one or more forms of illegal retaliation from their employer or supervisor. For example, employers fired or suspended workers, threatened to call immigration authorities, or threatened to cut workers’ hours or pay.