Last month a panel of civic leaders, employers, attorneys and workers participated in a forum discussion titled “Wage Theft – Its Impact on the Local Economy and in the Community”.  The free event, hosted by Rice University’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality and by the Fey y Justica Worker’s Center (formerly the Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center), was held on the 3rd floor of the Fondren Library at Rice University.  The diverse panel offered different perspectives on how wage theft impacts the local Houston economy, responsible businesses, social  programs, and the community as well as what can be done to eliminate this unethical practice.

Simply put, wage theft is a practice in which employers cheat workers out of wages and benefits owed.  According to Houston’s Down With Wage Theft Campaign:

“Wage theft depresses family income and as a consequence limits spending, lowers business sales, leaves taxes unpaid, public services undermined and economic growth diminished..."  Read more » about Wage Theft Forum at Rice University

El Paso has become the second city in Texas where an employer has been arrested and indicted on charges of wage theft. The Texas Observer reports that El Paso is the only city in the state that has an active wage theft task force. It includes the police and sheriff's departments as well as the County Attorney and District Attorney's offices.

From the Observer:

“It’s huge because we’re finally treating the stealing of someone’s wages the same way we treat someone stealing from Target or Albertsons or [any] store,” says Jed Untereker, an attorney with Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project who represented the employee.

A federal grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas has charged a construction company, its owners, and four of its crew leaders with harboring illegal aliens and money laundering, charges which could bring the defendants up to 20 years in federal prison each and fines up to $250,000 per convicted count.  Advantage Framing Systems, Inc. of Spring Hill, Kansas, company owners James and Kimberly Humbert and Charles Stevens II, and four framing crew leaders for the company – Jose Ramon Caro-Corral, Angel Arguello-Plata, Dennis Ericson Portillo and Jorge Uriel Delgado-Ovalle are all charged with committing these crimes as part of a scheme to hire illegal workers in order to gain a competitive advantage over other contractors and boost their own profits.

A press release by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas explained how the company allegedly conducted business:

“The indictment alleges James Humbert, Kimberly Humbert, Charles Stevens and the company itself were responsible for hiring undocumented workers for the purpose of lowering the company’s operating costs.  The wages the company paid did not include the employer’s share of Social Security payments, workers compensation, or unemployment insurance benefits paid to lawfully employed workers in the construction industry.  They placed themselves at a competitive advantage to other builders who did not employ undocumented workers.   Read more » about Framing Company Charged with Hiring Illegal Aliens To Cut Costs

Major Texas homebuilders came out against the state's moves toward cracking down on worker misclassification during a legislative hearing on Wednesday. The Leading Builders of America, which represents Perry Homes, David Weekley Homes, and others, argued that putting new regulations in place for the industry would lead to higher home prices and stifle job creation.

Steve Henry, speaking for the Leading Builders of America, the trade group that represents Perry and Weekley, said the crackdown on payroll fraud would not only lead to increased home prices, but it would also increase litigation, deter the creation of small businesses and stifle job creation. Andrew Turner, representing the same trade group, said it is a "confusion of an already confusing area of the law." He said the Workforce Commission already has the ability to deal with misclassification. “It’s not fair to single out this industry,” he said. He said that if the legislation were passed, more people would have to be paid as employees instead of independent subcontractors. Read more » about Sparks Fly at the Capitol Over Misclassification Crackdown