No one profession is free from instances of wage theft.
Recent lawsuits involving theft by employers have included very high profile businesses.
But even though any worker in the United States may be the victim of this crime, there are certain types of jobs in which it is much more prevalent.
One group of people who are commonly victims of this theft is day laborers.
These are workers - often in the field of construction - who work on a day-to-day basis for different people working on various projects.
Instead of working through a temp agency where every transaction would be on the books and any account of payment theft could be traced, the majority of these laborers congregate in different sites where potential employers know they will be.
They then wait to be chosen by the various people that stop by with projects to be completed.
Many of these employees will experience theft by employers at some point.
Many of these workers experience it so much they feel they simply have to accept it.
But no one has to accept such mistreatment.
Why Some Workers are More Vulnerable There are a number of reasons these workers are especially susceptible to the crime discussed in this article, including: They have no paper trail: Almost all transactions these workers are involved in happen "off the books.
" There is therefore no record of their being hired, being paid or the number of hours worked.
Immigrant status: Some of these workers are undocumented immigrants, and employers may use this as a way to keep them from trying to prosecute the employer for wage theft.
This is, however, completely illegal on the part of employers.
They have no advocates: Because they are not on the books, there are no unions, employment laws or advocacy organizations to protect them.
Everyone has a right to being paid in full for every hour they work.