Wage theft is one of the most frequently committed crimes in the United States, yet it is one of the least likely to be prosecuted, costing the most vulnerable low-income wage earners millions of dollars every year. The National Employment Law Project estimated that over 4.6 million low-wage workers experienced wage theft in 2019 alone. During the COVID-19 pandemic, wage theft increased, as thousands of frontline workers were unlawfully denied their pay.
Historically, combatting wage theft has fallen to private civil enforcement, which has proven to be an ineffective deterrent. That’s why some local prosecutors, including those on our panel, have taken ownership of this problem and have developed innovative strategies to protect workers where other systems have failed to do so.
Our webinar explores the practical steps that prosecutors can take to effectively prosecute wage theft and rectify the harm done by those who exploit vulnerable workers. For more information, check out the IIP’s guide on wage theft enforcement for local prosecutors at prosecution.org/wagetheft.