Healey, Campbell push legislation to fight wage theft

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

State House News Service
September 20, 2023

Vulnerable workers, including immigrants who do not know their rights or are fearful of employer retaliation, could gain stronger protections against pervasive wage theft under legislation that is supported by Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell and Gov. Maura T. Healey but has failed to win over Democrats on Beacon Hill for years.

Campbell on Sept. 19 publicly voiced her support for proposals that would strengthen her office’s authority to crack down on wage theft and protect Massachusetts from lost economic growth, jobs, and taxes. The latest version of the bill is being billed as a compromise between labor and business.

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Daniel Donahue and Sen. Sal DiDomenico (H. 1868 / S. 1158) would allow Campbell to file a civil action seeking injunctive relief for damages, lost wages, and other benefits for workers. Campbell also would have the authority to investigate wage theft complaints and seek civil remedies for violations, as well as to issue stop-work orders against contractors or businesses who are violating wage theft provisions.

“Access to a decent paying job and benefits is absolutely essential to ensuring economic security for individuals and their families,” Campbell told the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development during a hearing on Sept. 19. “We know passing a strong, and smart, and effective wage bill is crucial.”

Some $1 billion in wages are stolen each year in the commonwealth by employers and contractors, and workers recoup less than 2 percent of their stolen pay, according to data from the Wage Theft Coalition led by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. When DiDomenico first filed his bill in 2015, stolen wages totaled roughly $300 million, he told the committee.

 

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New Jersey Workers, Advocates Celebrate Passage of Landmark Anti-Wage Theft Legislation (NJ)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

New Jersey Workers, Advocates Celebrate Passage of Landmark
Anti-Wage Theft Legislation

A2903/S1790 Catapults New Jersey to One of the Strongest Wage and Hour laws in the Country in Advance of the July 1st Minimum Wage Hike

INSIDER NJ
June 27, 2019, 4:15 pm

(Trenton, NJ) June 27, 2019: Today, both houses of the New Jersey State legislature passed a landmark anti-wage theft bill (A-2903 / S-1790), sending the legislation to Governor Phil Murphy’s desk. When signed into law, New Jersey’s wage and hour protections will be among the strongest in the country, just in time for the state’s minimum wage hike this July 1st.

The legislation enhances enforcement of state wage and hour laws, ensuring that workers are paid according to the law. Under the legislation, employers that violate wage and hour laws by not paying minimum wage, overtime or failing to pay for hours worked could liable for treble damages and fines. The bill also extends the statute of limitations from two to six years, strengthens joint employer liability where firms use subcontractors, and strengthens anti-retaliation provisions to protect employees who speak out against wage and hour violations.

“For low wage workers, like myself, passing the anti-wage theft bill has been just as important as increasing the minimum wage, because it means workers will actually receive the pay we have rightfully earned. Unscrupulous employers will no longer be rewarded by our laws for not paying workers. On behalf of Make the Road New Jersey, I would like to express our gratitude to Assemblywoman Quijano and Senator Weinberg for their years of commitment to ensuring the anti-wage theft bill becomes law” said Roberto Sanchez, a member of Make the Road New Jersey, a community-based immigrant and workers rights organization based in Elizabeth and Passaic.

“After years of advocacy, we are thrilled that New Jersey will have one of the strongest anti-wage theft law in the nation to protect workers against wage theft while creating a level playing field for employers that do right by their workers,” said Reynalda Cruz, a leader of New Labor, a workers’ center in based in Newark, New Brunswick, and Lakewood.

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