Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cheating the Undocumented Worker

The Center for Urban Economic Development surveyed the wages and work condition of low-income workers -- many of whom are undocumented. (See Center's report: Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers.) They found wide-spread violations of labor laws by employers. Even though the undocumented are here unauthorized, they still are protected by wage and safety laws. While often low-income workers do hazardous, work excessive hours or are under age -- all of which is against the law __ still most abuse of workers by employees is cheating on wages -- usually not paying the minimum wage or for overtime is the most common violation. (See Washington Post editorial.) The Obama Labor Department is increasing the number of investigators and promises to be more aggressive in enforcing the law.

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