Gov. Newsom Signs Assemblywoman Gonzalez’ Wage Theft Criminalization Bill

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By City News Service
September 28, 2021

The new law specifies that the intentional theft of wages or tips by employers is punishable as grand theft

A bill that could jail employers for intentionally committing wage theft was signed into law Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Assembly Bill 1003, written by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, specifies that the intentional theft of wages or tips by employers is punishable as grand theft.

“I’ve never understood why we don’t hold employers who steal from their workers responsible for their crimes, the same way we treat any other serious theft,” Gonzalez said. “I’m hopeful this bill will finally change that and make bad actors think twice before treating wage theft like a simple business decision.

“This law sends a clear message: if you intentionally steal workers’ hard-earned wages, you can actually go to prison,” she said.

In California, minimum wage violations cost workers close to $2 billion annually. AB 1003 makes the intentional theft of wages, tips, benefits or compensation — over $950 for one employee and over $2,350 for two or more employees in any 12 consecutive month period — punishable as grand theft. Prosecutors would have the authority to decide whether to charge an employer with a misdemeanor or felony.

According to a report released in May by the Economic Policy Institute, laws that made the crime of wage theft a felony increased the likelihood that district attorneys would pursue more cases and provided prosecutors a more effective means to go after egregious employer crimes.

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Grand Theft Paycheck: The Large Corporations Shortchanging Their Workers’ Wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Philip Mattera with a chapter on policy recommendations by Adam Shah
June 2018

New research finds that a wide range of big corporations have been shortchanging the people who work for them Washington, DC-A new report finds that many large corporations operating in the United States have boosted their profits by forcing employees to work off the clock, cheating them out of required overtime pay and engaging in similar practices that together are known as wage theft.

The detailed analysis of federal and state court records shows that these corporations have paid out billions of dollars to resolve wage theft lawsuits brought by workers. Walmart, which has long been associated with such practices, has paid the most, but the list of the most-penalized employers also includes Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other large banks and insurance companies as well as major technology and healthcare corporations. Many of the large corporations are repeat offenders, and 450 firms have each paid out $1 million or more in settlements and/or judgments.

These are among the findings in Grand Theft Paycheck: The Large Corporations Shortchanging Their Workers’ Wages published today by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First and Jobs With Justice Education Fund. It is available at www.goodjobsfirst.org/wagetheft

“Our findings make it clear that wage theft goes far beyond sweatshops, fast-food outlets and retailers. It is built into the business model of a substantial portion of Corporate America,” said Good Jobs First Research Director Philip Mattera, the lead author of the report.

(Read More – Press Release)

(PDF Copy of Full Report)

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