WHD’s Callous Attitude towards Wage Theft and Abuses Complaints
March 30, 2009 – 5:52 am
Every worker is entitled to a minimum wage and overtime pays regardless of his/her immigration status. The Department of Labor (DOL)’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is the agency responsible for enforcing wage laws in the US. Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in its undercover investigation, has found that WHD is doing a poor job. GAO report found several faults of WHD’s processes, from its investigative procedures to its follow-up methods. According to GAO report, when its investigators posed as workers and companies on 10 occasions, the WHD handled just one of the 10 fake complaints properly.
A recent news story reported by The New York Times brought the story of a Chinese immigrant being underpaid by his employer in New Jersey (NJ). Zhen Zhong Zhang, a cook in a busy Chinese restaurant in NJ was working 70 hours a week but was taking home just $500. It is said that cases like Zhang’s are common, especially in low-wage work places such as construction sites to nail salons that are largely staffed with immigrant workers.
According to Mr. Leonard Katz, deputy commissioner of NJ, DOL and Workforce Development, the number of wage complaints filed in NJ have increased nearly 29 percent in 2008 compared to previous year. Mr. Katz also explains various steps NJ has taken to make it easier for immigrants to report possible wage abuses that include translations of Complaint Forms, more places to file complaints, and circulations of cell phone numbers of labor inspectors to community organizations.
The Labor Secretary Hilda Solis also has promised to step up enforcement at the Wage and Hour Division.
For full news, please click Unpaid Wage Complaints on the Rise in New Jersey
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