Too many Rhode Island employers are illegally ripping off workers. Are you getting paid what you’re owed?
But in too many cases, unscrupulous employers steal workers’ wages illegally. It’s a common practice across industries. They do this when they pay less than the minimum wage, fail to pay overtime, or pay workers under the table. Sometimes workers aren’t even paid at all.
Wage theft can happen to any worker in any industry. Know the signs of wage theft and your legal rights as a worker. If you think you’re being shortchanged, reach out to us today. Start keeping track of how many hours you work, the amount of money in your paycheck, and what your boss has communicated about your payment.
Together, we can protect hard-working Rhode Islanders like you, your family, and taxpayers from being ripped off by employers looking to cheat workers out of what they’re owed.
But in too many cases, unscrupulous employers steal workers’ wages illegally. It’s a common practice across industries. They do this when they pay less than the minimum wage, fail to pay overtime, or pay workers under the table. Sometimes workers aren’t even paid at all.
Wage theft can happen to any worker in any industry. Know the signs of wage theft and your legal rights as a worker. If you think you’re being shortchanged, reach out to us today. Start keeping track of how many hours you work, the amount of money in your paycheck, and what your boss has communicated about your payment.
Together, we can protect hard-working Rhode Islanders like you, your family, and taxpayers from being ripped off by employers looking to cheat workers out of what they’re owed.
Every day in Rhode Island, hundreds of employers illegally underpay their workers. Workers are often:
Nationwide, employers steal billions of workers’ paychecks each year. A 2017 report by the Economic Policy Institute indicated that the total wages stolen from workers due to minimum wage violations exceeds millions of dollars each year. That’s more than the value of stolen goods in all property crimes, according to FBI statistics.
In Rhode Island, the practice of wage theft is widespread and threatens to undermine our state’s tax base and its economy. Rhode Island’s attorney general has warned “there is an underground economy in Rhode Island where people are misclassified as independent contractors when they are really employees. That’s cheating workers and it’s cheating the state’s taxpayers.”
Wage theft can take many forms. Generally it is when employers fail to pay workers the full wages to which they are legally entitled. This can take the form of employers refusing to pay promised wages, paying less than legally mandated minimums, failing to pay for all hours worked, or not paying overtime premiums.
People who experience wage theft tend to be minimum wage earners — those who can least afford to lose earnings — putting them at greater risk of falling below the poverty line. But wage theft can happen to any worker in any industry.
Rhode Island’s Wage Payment Laws contain detailed language on what classifies as wage theft.
Workers who understand their rights when starting a job are far less likely to fall victim to wage theft. That includes rules for minimum wages, overtime pay, work breaks, reasonable medical and religious accommodations and protections from retaliation, safety hazards and discrimination.
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