Unregulated Work in Chicago: Breakdown of Workplace Protections

Unregulated Work in Chicago
The Breakdown of Workplace Protections in the Low-Wage Labor Market

Nik Theodore, Mirabai Auer, Ryan Hollon, and Sandra Morales-Mirque
With Annette Bernhardt, Ruth Milkman, Douglas Heckathorn, James DeFilippis, Ana Luz Gonzlez, Victor Narro, Jason Perelshteyn, Diana Polson, and Michael Spiller
Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago
April 2010
NationalAdvisoryCommittee EileenAppelbaum,RutgersUniversity JenniferGordon,FordhamLawSchool

MarkHandcock,UniversityofWashington MarielenaHincapie,NationalImmigrationLawCenter MartinIguchi,UCLA/Rand ManuelPastor,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia CathyRuckelshaus,NationalEmploymentLawProject
ChicagoAdvisoryCommittee
ARISEChicago! CentroRomero ChicagoCommunityandWorkersRightsCenter ChicagoWorkersCollaborative KoreanAmericanResourceandCulturalCenter LatinoUnion NorthLawndaleEmploymentNetwork RestaurantOpportunityCenterofChicago(ROCChicago) WestHumboldtParkFamilyandCommunityDevelopmentCouncil WomenEmployed WorkingHandsLegalClinic
Acknowledgements
Weincurrednumerousdebtsinconductingthisstudy.Mostofall,wewouldliketothankthe 1,140workerswhoparticipatedinoursurvey.Wealsoaregratefultothemembersofourfour advisoryboardswhoassistedusatmanystagesintheprojectsdevelopment,andtothemany organizationsthatprovidedspaceforustoconductthesurveys.Inaddition,ourcolleaguesat CornellUniversity,theNationalEmploymentLawProject,RutgersUniversity,andtheUCLA InstituteforResearchonLaborandEmploymentprovidedvitalsupportforourefforts.
Fortheirinvaluablecommentsonearlierdraftsofthenationalreport,wethankPablo Alvarado,EileenAppelbaum,AnaAvendao,JenniferGordon,MarkHandcock,JanetHerold, JonHiatt,MartinIguchi,SaruJayaraman,RajNayak,ChrisNewman,ChrisOwens,Manuel Pastor,andCathyRuckelshaus.WealsobenefitedfromthelegalexpertiseofNathanBarksdale, LaurieBurgess,MichaelEttlinger,NataliaGarcia,TsedeyeGebreselassie,E.TammyKim,Kevin Kish,SamuelKrinsky,SarahLeberstein,BeckyMonroe,RajNayak,OscarOspino,LuisPerez, CathyRuckelshaus,PaulSonn,JenniferSung,andChrisWilliams,aswellasthemanylawyers whorespondedtoourqueriestoNELPsNationalWageandHourClearinghouse.Foradviceon theintricaciesofworkerscompensationwearegratefultoDanielleLucido,JeremySmith,and TomRankin.ThanksalsogotoNinaMartin,JamiePeck,andNoahZatzfortheirinputonthe surveydesign,andtoTerriZhuforherassistanceattheanalysisstage.
Acknowledgementscontinued
MarkHandcock,MartinIguchi,andLawrenceOuelletofferedhelpfuladviceaboutthe intricaciesofRDSfieldinganddataanalysis.ChristineDOnofrio,MichaelEttlinger,Mark Levitan,andJeremyReissprovidedusexpertadviceaboutpayrolltaxdeductions.Onhealth andsafetyissueswereliedheavilyonGarrettBrown,LindaDelp,EricFrumin,DanielleLucido, LuisMireles,BruceNissen,JimPlatner,JackieNowell,JoelShufro,ScottSchneider,Fran Schreiberg,andJuliannSum.JeffreyPasselandJohnSchmittprovidedinvaluableanalysisof demographicandwagedatafromtheCurrentPopulationSurvey. WewouldliketothankthepeopleatSt.AnthonysinCicero,St.PascalsinPortagePark,St. SylvestersinLoganSquare,andWorldReliefinAlbanyPark,aswellasTimBell,TomHansen,B. Loewe,VinayRavi,ReverendSergioSolis,EboneeStevenson,DeborahTaylor,andPeggyValdez fortheircontributionstothedevelopmentandfieldingoftheChicagosurvey.AnneMarie Castleman,AdamKader,AlexLinares,andChrisWilliamscontributedtheirexpertisetodraftsof thisreport.WedependedonYibingLiforprojectadministrationduringallphasesofthisstudy.
WereliedonanextraordinaryteamofinterviewersandtranslatorsinChicago.RyanHollon directedthefieldingofthesurveywiththehelpofSandraMoralesMirque.Bothconducted interviewsalongwithReolaAvant,LouisaBigelow,AlisonDicksonQuesada,CarlosGinard, HannaanJoplin,KasiaKornecka,TomMcCormack,MeghanMattingly,JamesPfluecke,Kristi Sanford,LucindaScharbach,LianSze,CecilThomas,TiffanyTraylor,andAdaUtah.MarthaGlas servedasaPolishtranslator.
MadonnaCamel,YutehCheng,JayFraser,andBobLeeoftheSurveyResearchCenteratthe UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeleyprovidedexpertassistancewithinterviewertrainingandthe programmingofthesurveyinstrument.ThesurveyinstrumentwastranslatedintoSpanishby JuanitaNorori,andAlfredoBurgoscreatedthepictographsweusedinourrecruitment documents.
ThisresearchwasgenerouslyfundedbytheFordFoundation,theJohnRandolphHaynesand DoraHaynesFoundation,theInstituteforPolicyandCivicEngagementoftheUniversityof IllinoisatChicago,theJoyceFoundationandtheRussellSageFoundation.Wegreatly appreciatethesupportwereceivedfromWhitneySmith,DianeCornwellandHctorCordero Guzmn,andJosephHoereth.WeareespeciallyindebtedtoEricWanner,AixaCintrnVelz andKatherineMcFate,withoutwhomthisprojectwouldnothavebeenpossible.Theviews expressedinthisreportaresolelythoseoftheauthors. CenterforUrbanEconomicDevelopment UniversityofIllinoisatChicago 400S.PeoriaSt,Suite2100(M/C345) Chicago,IL60607 312.996.6336 www.urbaneconomy.org
AbouttheAuthors
NikTheodore,Ph.D.,istheDirectoroftheCenterforUrbanEconomicDevelopmentand AssociateProfessorintheDepartmentofUrbanPlanningandPolicyattheUniversityofIllinois atChicago.Hehaspublishedwidelyoneconomicdevelopment,labormarkets,andurban policy. MirabaiAuer,M.U.P.P.,isaResearchAssociateattheCenterforUrbanEconomicDevelopment attheUniversityofIllinoisatChicago.Herinterestsincludecommunityeconomicdevelopment strategiesandtheinformaleconomy. RyanHollonisadoctoralstudentinUrbanPlanningattheUniversityofIllinoisatChicago.His researchexplorestheintersectionofthelabormarket,urbaneducationsystems,andthe criminaljusticesystem. SandraMoralesMirque,M.U.P.P.,isaResearchAssociateattheCenterforUrbanEconomic Development.Herworkinvolvesappliedresearcharoundimmigrantsandwomenseconomic issues,andtheinformaleconomy.Shealsoworkscloselywithcommunityorganizationson capacitybuildingandparticipatoryresearch.
Contents
ExecutiveSummary.............i 1.Introduction.1 2.ALandmarkSurveyoftheLowWageLaborMarket..4 3.ThePrevalenceofWorkplaceViolations.......9 4.TheRoleofJobandEmployerCharacteristics.........................................................................20 5.TheRoleofWorkerCharacteristics..32 6.WageTheftinChicago........38 7.StrengtheningWorkerProtections.....40 AppendixA:DataandMethods.44 References.49 Endnotes.55
ExecutiveSummary
Thisreportexposesaworldofworkinwhichcoreemploymentandlaborlawsarefailing significantnumbersofworkers.Theseprotectionstherighttobepaidatleasttheminimum wage,therighttobepaidforovertimehours,therighttotakemealbreaks,accesstoworkers compensationwheninjured,andtherighttoadvocateforbetterworkingconditionsarebeing violatedatalarmingratesinthelowwagelabormarket.Thesheerbreadthoftheproblem, spanningkeyindustriesintheeconomy,aswellasitsprofoundimpactonworkersandtheir communities,entailingsignificanteconomichardship,demandsurgentattention. In2008,alongwithourcolleaguesinLosAngelesandNewYorkCity,weconductedalandmark surveyof4,387workersinlowwageindustries,1,140ofwhomareemployedinChicagoand suburbanCookCounty.Weusedaninnovative,rigorousmethodologythatallowedustoreach vulnerableworkerswhoareoftenmissedinstandardsurveys,suchasunauthorizedimmigrants andthosepaidincash.Ourgoalwastoobtainaccurateandstatisticallyrepresentative estimatesoftheprevalenceofworkplaceviolations.Allfindingsareadjustedtobe representativeoffrontlineworkers(i.e.excludingmanagers,professionalortechnicalworkers) inlowwageindustriesapopulationofabout310,205workersemployedinCookCounty.
Finding1 Workplaceviolationsaresevereandwidespreadinthelowwagelabormarket
Wefoundthatemploymentandlaborlawsareregularlyandsystematicallyviolated,impacting asignificantpartofthelowwagelaborforceinChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty. Minimumwageviolations: Fully26percentofworkersinoursamplewerepaidlessthanthelegallyrequiredminimum wageinthepreviousworkweek. Minimumwageviolationswerenottrivialinmagnitude:over60percentofworkerswere underpaidbymorethan$1perhour. Overtimeviolations: Onequarterofourrespondentsworkedmorethan40hoursduringthepreviousweek.Of those,67percentwerenotpaidthelegallyrequiredovertimeratebytheiremployers. Likeminimumwageviolations,overtimeviolationswereofsubstantialmagnitude.The averageworkerwithaviolationhadputin8hoursofovertimeinthepreviousweekhours thatwereeitherunderpaidornotpaidatall. i
Offtheclockviolations: Nearlyonequarter(23percent)oftheworkersinoursamplecameinearlyand/orstayed lateaftertheirshiftduringthepreviousworkweek.Oftheseworkers,69percentdidnot receiveanypayatallfortheworktheyperformedoutsideoftheirregularshift. Mealbreakviolations: Threequartersofourrespondentsworkedenoughconsecutivehourstobelegallyentitled toatleastonemealbreakduringthepreviousweek.Oftheseworkers,43percentreceived nobreakatall,hadtheirbreakshortened,wereinterruptedbytheiremployer,orworked duringthebreakallofwhichconstituteaviolationofmealbreaklaw. Paystubviolationsandillegaldeductions: InIllinois,workersarerequiredtoreceivedocumentationoftheirearningsanddeductions, regardlessofwhethertheyarepaidincashorbycheck.However,45percentofworkersin oursampledidnotreceivethismandatorydocumentationinthepreviousworkweek. Employersaregenerallynotpermittedtotakedeductionsfromaworkerspayfordamage orloss,workrelatedtoolsormaterialsortransportation.But44percentofrespondents whoreporteddeductionsfromtheirpayinthepreviousworkweekweresubjectedtothese typesofillegaldeductions. Tippedjobviolations: Ofthetippedworkersinoursample,15percentwerenotpaidthetippedworkerminimum wage(whichinIllinoisislowerthantheregularstateminimumwage). Illegalemployerretaliation: Wefoundthatwhenworkerscomplainedabouttheirworkingconditionsortriedtoorganizea union,employersoftenrespondedbyretaliatingagainstthem.Justasimportant,many workersnevermadecomplaintsinthefirstplace,oftenbecausetheyfearedretaliationbytheir employer. Overonequarter(26percent)ofworkersinoursamplereportedthattheyhadmadea complainttotheiremployerorattemptedtoformaunioninthelastyear.Ofthose,35 percentexperiencedoneormoreformsofillegalretaliationfromtheiremployeror supervisor.Forexample,employersfiredorsuspendedworkers,threatenedtocall immigrationauthorities,orthreatenedtocutworkershoursorpay. ii
Another15percentofworkersreportedthattheydidnotmakeacomplainttotheir employerduringthepast12months,eventhoughtheyhadexperiencedaseriousproblem suchasdangerousworkingconditionsornotbeingpaidtheminimumwage.Overhalfwere afraidoflosingtheirjob,12percentwereafraidtheywouldhavetheirhoursorwagescut, and36percentthoughtitwouldnotmakeadifference. Workerscompensationviolations: Wefoundthattheworkerscompensationsystemisnotfunctioningforworkersinthelow wagelabormarket. Oftheworkersinoursamplewhoexperiencedaseriousinjuryonthejob,only9percent filedaworkerscompensationclaim. Whenworkerstoldtheiremployerabouttheinjury,20percentexperiencedanillegal employerreactionincludingfiringtheworker,callingimmigrationauthorities,or instructingtheworkernottofileforworkerscompensation. Nearlyhalfofworkersinjuredonthejobhadtopaytheirbillsoutofpocket(41percent)or usetheirhealthinsurancetocovertheexpenses(8percent).Workerscompensation insurancepaid(allorpart)medicalexpensesforonly3percentoftheinjuredworkersinour sample.
Finding2 Jobandemployercharacteristicsarekeytounderstandingworkplaceviolations
Workplaceviolationsareultimatelytheresultofdecisionsmadebyemployerswhethertopay theminimumwageorovertime,whethertogiveworkersmealbreaks,andhowtorespondto complaintsaboutworkingconditions.Wefoundthatworkplaceviolationratesarestrongly influencedbyjobandemployercharacteristics. Minimumwageviolationratesvariedsignificantlybyindustry.Violationsweremost commoninprivatehouseholdsandinpersonalandrepairservices,wheremorethan60 percentofworkerswerepaidlessthantheminimumwage.Otherhighviolationindustries include,retailanddrugstores,socialassistanceandeducation,andgrocerystores. Minimumwageviolationratesalsovariedbyoccupation.Forexample,childcareworkers, manyofwhomworkinprivatehouseholds,hadaviolationrateof75percent.Sixty percentofpersonalservicesandrepairworkersalsohadaminimumwageviolation.Other highviolationoccupationsinclude,buildingservicesandgroundsworkers;cashiers,retail salespersonsandtellersandhomehealthcareworkers.
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Workerswhowerepaidaflatweeklyrateorpaidincashhadmuchhigherviolationrates thanthosepaidastandardhourlyrateorbycompanycheck. Workersatbusinesseswithlessthan100employeeswereatgreaterriskofexperiencing violationsthanthoseatlargerbusinesses.Butworkersinbigcompanieswerenotimmune: nearlyoneinsixhadaminimumwageviolationinthepreviousweek,andofthosewho workedovertime,52percentwerenotpaidtimeandahalf.
Finding3 Allworkersareatriskofworkplaceviolations
Immigrantsandpeopleofcoloraredisproportionatelylikelytobeemployedinlowwage industries,andthereforeareatgreaterriskofworkplaceviolations.Butviolationsarenot limitedtoimmigrantworkersorothervulnerablegroupsinthelaborforceeveryoneisatrisk, althoughtodifferentdegrees. Wefoundthatarangeofworkercharacteristicswerecorrelatedwithhigherminimumwage violationrates: Foreignbornworkerswere1.5timesmorelikelythantheirU.S.borncounterpartstohave aminimumwageviolation. AmongU.S.bornworkers,therewasasignificantdifferencebyrace:theviolationratefor AfricanAmericanworkerswastriplethatoftheirLatinocounterpartsand27timesthatof theirwhitecounterparts(whohadbyfarthelowestviolationratesinthesample). HigherlevelsofeducationandEnglishproficiency(forimmigrants)eachofferedsome protectionfromminimumwageviolations. Overtime,offtheclockandmealbreakviolationsgenerallyvariedlittlebyworker characteristics.Onthewhole,jobandemployercharacteristicsweremorepowerful predictorsoftheworkplaceviolationsconsideredinthisstudy.
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Finding4 Wagetheft
Wagetheftnotonlydepressesthealreadymeagerearningsoflowwageworkers,butalso adverselyimpactstheircommunitiesandthelocaleconomiesofwhichtheyareapart. Workers:Nearlyhalf(47percent)ofoursampleexperiencedatleastonepayrelated violationinthepreviousworkweek.Theaverageworkerlost$50,outofaverageweekly earningsof$322.Thattranslatesintowagetheftof16percentofearnings.Assuminga fulltime,fullyearworkschedule,weestimatethattheseworkerslostanaverageof$2,595 annuallyduetoworkplaceviolations,outoftotalearningsof$16,753. Communities:Weestimatethatinagivenweek,approximately146,300workersinChicago andsuburbanCookCountyhaveatleastonepaybasedviolation.Extrapolatingfromthis figure,frontlineworkersinlowwageindustrieslosemorethan$7.3millionperweekasa resultofemploymentandlaborlawviolations.
Strengtheningworkerprotections
Everyonehasastakeinaddressingtheproblemofworkplaceviolations.Whenimpacted workersandtheirfamiliesstruggleinpovertyandconstanteconomicinsecurity,thestrength andresiliencyoflocalcommunitiessuffers.Whenunscrupulousemployersviolatethelaw, responsibleemployersareforcedintounfaircompetition,settingoffaracetothebottomthat threatenstobringdownstandardsthroughoutthelabormarket.Andwhensignificant numbersofworkersareunderpaid,taxrevenuesarelost. Policyreformsareneededatthefederallevel,butstateandlocalgovernmentshavea significantroletoplayaswell.ThepolicyagendatoprotecttherightsofworkersinIllinois shouldbedrivenbytwocoreprinciples: Strengthenstateandcityenforcementofemploymentandlaborlaws:Illinoisiswellplacedto tackletheproblemofworkplaceviolations,giventhestatescommitmenttoenforcementand itsenergizedcommunityadvocates.Inrecentyears,stateenforcementhasbeenimproved substantiallythroughtheuseofproactiveinvestigationsandoutreachtocommunitygroups, butrecentbudgetcutshavestrainedresourcesandslowedprogress.Illinoismustrecommit resourcestowardenforcement,institutionalizerecentsuccessesandenactnewlegislationto strengthenenforcementtools.Cityandcountygovernmentsmustdotheirpartbyenforcing thelaborstandardsthatfallundertheirauthority,whilealsodedicatingresourcestopublic educationcampaignsandtosupportenforcementeffortsbycommunitybasedorganizations, workercentersandlegalservicesproviders.
Updatelegalstandardsforthe21stcenturylabormarket:Strongenforcementisimportant, butsoarestronglegalstandardsthatrecognizethechangingorganizationofworkintheUnited States.Thestrengthoflawsandthestrengthoftheirenforcementaredeeplyintertwined weakemploymentandlaborlawssendthewrongsignal,openingthedoortolowroadbusiness strategiestocutlaborcosts.Raisingtheminimumwage,closingloopholesthatexclude workersfromkeyprotectionsandensuringstateandcityresourcesareusedtocreateliving wagejobsareallkeyimprovementsthatwouldraisecomplianceintheworkplaceandimprove thecompetitivepositionofemployerswhoplaybytherules.
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Introduction
LastyearinIllinois,alargetemporarystaffingagencysettledaclassactionlawsuitwithover 25,000workers,totaling$11million.Formorethansevenyears,theagencyhadanunlawful vacationpolicydenyingemployeesvestedvacationtimeandpay.Workerswerenotallowed toaccruevacationtimeproportionallyastheyworkedthroughouttheyear;moreover, companypolicystipulatedthatanemployeeneedbeonpayrollinDecemberinordertoreceive theirvacationpay.Thecompanyalsofailedtoprovideworkerswithanitemizedstatementof earnings. 1 Anothertemporarystaffingagencysettledaclassactionsuitwithover3,300workers,totaling nearlyhalfamilliondollars.Usuallyhiredbytheday,workerswereplacedinminimumwage jobsdoingassembly,packagingandjanitorialwork.Butwhentheyaccumulatedmorethan40 hoursinaweekworkingfordifferentclientcompanies,theydidntreceiveovertimeinstead, thetempagencysplittheircheckstoavoidtriggeringmandatoryovertimepay.Workersalso reportedthatregardlessoftheactualamountofhourstheyworkedinagivenday,theirtime wasroundeddowntoeighthoursbytheagency. 2 Andearlierthisyear,theownerofasmallgrocerystorereachedasettlementwithadozen workers,agreeingtoacodeofconductafteradmittingtopayingworkersbelowtheminimum wageanddenyingworkersfullovertimepay.Employeesreportedoftenworkinginexcessof60 hoursaweekforlessthantheminimumwageandnoovertime. 3 Unfortunately,thesecasesarenotunusual,noraretheylimitedtosmallbusinessesortemp agencies.In2008,forexample,WalMartannounceditwouldsettle63casesin42states chargingthatthecompanyforceditsemployeestoworkofftheclockthatis,requiring unpaidworkafteremployeeshadclockedoutattheendoftheirofficialshifts.Thesettlement totaled$352millioninunpaidwagesandinvolvedhundredsofthousandsofcurrentand formeremployees. 4

Increasingly,itisclearthattherehasbeenabreakdownintheenforcementofcore employmentandlaborlawsintheUnitedStates.Thesearelawsthatmostofusconsider absoluteandinviolate,andthatdatebacktotheNewDeal.Employersmustpayworkersat leasttheminimumwage,andtimeandahalfforovertime.Theymustfollowregulationsto 1
protectworkershealthandsafety,andcarryworkerscompensationinsurancetocoveron thejobinjuries.Theymaynotdiscriminateagainstworkersonthebasisofage,race,religion, nationalorigin,gender,sexualorientationordisability.Andtheymustrespectworkersrightto organizeandbringcomplaintsaboutworkingconditions.Yetthereisgrowingevidencethat employersarebreakingthesebedrocklaws.Themanyworkplaceviolationsdocumentedby communityorganizationsandgovernmentagenciesinrecentyears,aswellasagrowingbody ofresearch,suggesttheneedtotakeacloserlookatthestateofworkerprotections. Todate,veryfewstudieshavebeenabletolookacrossabroadsetofindustriestoestimatethe proportionofworkersexperiencingworkplaceviolations,ortheproportionofemployers committingthem.Asaresult,welackrobustdataontheextentoftheproblem,theindustries thatarethebiggestoffenders,ortheworkerswhoaremostaffected.Thelimiteddata,inturn, hampereffectivepolicyresponsestosubstandardemploymentconditions. Thisreportpresentsnewresearchfindingstofillthisgap.Drawingonasurveyof4,387 workersinlowwageindustriesinthethreelargestU.S.citiesChicago,LosAngeles,andNew YorkitfocusesontheresultsforChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty,where1,140workers weresurveyedbetweenJanuaryandJune2008.Anationalreportonourfindings,Broken Laws,UnprotectedWorkers:ViolationsofEmploymentandLaborLawsinAmericasCities, combineddatafromallthreecitiesandwasreleasedin2009. 5 Here,wepresentfindingsfor ChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty,inordertodocumenttheextenttowhichemployersinthe Chicagoareaarecomplyingwithstateandfederallaws. Usingarigoroussurveymethodologythatallowedustoreachvulnerableworkerswhoare oftenmissedinstandardsurveys,weattemptedtoanswerthefollowingquestions: Howcommonareworkplaceviolations,suchasthepercentageofworkersearningless thantheminimumwageorworkingovertimewithoutpay? Whichindustriesandoccupationshaveespeciallyhighconcentrationsofviolations? Whoaretheworkersmostaffected? Wethinkofthissurveyasacensusoftheinvisiblebecause,fromthestandpointofpublic policy,thesejobsarealltoooftenofftheradarscreen. Thisreportexposessignificant,pervasiveviolationsofcoreemploymentandlaborlawsinlow wageindustriesintheChicagoarea.Workersarebeingpaidlessthantheminimumwageand
arenotreceivingovertimepay.Theyareworkingofftheclockwithoutpay,andarenotgetting mealbreaks.Whenworkersareinjured,theyarenotreceivingworkerscompensation.And whentheytrytoasserttheirrightsorattempttoorganize,workersoftenfaceillegalretaliation fromtheiremployers. Theseproblemsarenotlimitedtotheundergroundeconomyortoafewbadapple employers;rather,violationsoccurinawidevarietyofindustriesthatarethecoreofthe regionaleconomy.Noraretheseabuseslimitedtoanarrowsegmentofthelaborforce. Althoughimmigrantsandpeopleofcoloraredisproportionatelyaffectedbyworkplace violations,wefoundthatallworkersinthelowwagelabormarketareatriskofexperiencing workplaceviolations.Itmustbenoted,however,thatnotallemployersviolatethelaw.Our researchsuggeststhat,evenwithinhighviolationindustries,thereareresponsibleemployers thatmanagetobecompetitivewhilecomplyingwithcoreemploymentandlaborlaws. 6 Both thoseemployers,andtheworkerswhoregularlyexperienceworkplaceviolations,urgently needarenewedcommitmenttothefullenforcementoflaborstandards.
Butbetterenforcementaloneisnotenough.Oursystemofemploymentandlaborlawsis badlyoutofdateandriddledwithweakstandards.Someoccupationsandindustriesareeither partlyorcompletelyexemptedfromcoverage.Healthandsafetyprotectionshavenotbeen substantiallyupdatedinyears.Andmanyemployersaretreatingworkersasindependent contractorsorhiringthemthroughsubcontractors,strainingalegalframeworkpredicatedona traditionalemploymentrelationship. Thehighratesofworkplaceviolationsthatwedocumentinthisreportraiseanurgent, resoundingwarningthatevenexistingprotectionsarefailingworkersintheChicagoareaand astheregionstrugglestoemergefromaprotractedeconomicdownturn,therearereasonsto believethattheconditionswedocumentinthisreporthaveworsened.Communitygroupsand legalassistanceorganizationsarereportingthattherecessionhasintensifiedworkplaceabuses, asemployersareevermorefocusedoncostcuttingandworkersfeelincreasedpressureto acceptsubminimumwagesandunpaidovertimeinthefaceofhighunemploymentrates. Rebuildingoureconomyonthebackofillegalworkingconditionsisnotonlymorallybutalso economicallyuntenable.Whenunscrupulousemployersbreakthelawanddrivedownlabor standards,theyrobworkersofhardearnedincomeneededtosupporttheirfamilies.Theyrob communitiesofspendingpower.Theyrobstateandlocalgovernmentsofvitaltaxrevenues. AndtheyrobChicago,CookCountyandIllinoisofthegoodjobsandworkplacestandards neededtocompeteinthe21stcenturyeconomy. 3
1. ALandmarkSurveyoftheLowWageLaborMarket
Studyingviolationsofworkplacelawsisachallengingtask.Employersareunlikelytoadmitthat theyarepayingworkerslessthantheminimumwage,denyingworkersmealbreaks,or otherwisebreakingthelaw.Businesseswiththeworstconditionsmaybeoperating undergroundandthusdifficulttofind.Workerswhoneedtosupporttheirfamiliesare understandablyreluctanttotalktoresearchersabouttheiremployers,becauseoffearsof retaliation,worriesabouttheirimmigrationstatus,orbecausetheyareemployedoffthe books.Asaresult,existingdataareinadequatetoassessthecurrentstateofemployer compliancewithemploymentandlaborlaws. Inthisstudy,webuildonanemergingbodyofresearchthathasestablishedtheviabilityof gatheringreliabledataonworkplacepracticesdirectlyfromworkers. 7 In2008,weconducteda representativesurveyoflowwageworkersinChicagoandsuburbanCookCountyaspartofthe larger2008UnregulatedWorkSurveyProject(whichconsistedofcoordinatedsurveysin Chicago,LosAngelesandNewYorkCity).Weadoptedtwokeymethodologicalinnovationsto overcometheinadequaciesofpreviousstudies.First,weusedacuttingedgesampling methodologythatallowedustoreachthefullrangeofworkersinthelowwagelabormarket, includingunauthorizedimmigrantsandworkerswhoareemployedoffthebooks.Second, wedevelopedanextensivequestionnairethatallowedustorigorouslyassesswhether employmentandlaborlawswerebeingbroken,withoutrelyingonworkersownknowledgeof theselaws.Theresultisalandmarksurveythatofferspolicymakers,regulatoryagencies, communitygroups,legalserviceslawyersandresearchersawindowintothecurrentstateof workerprotectionsinthelowwagelabormarketsofmajorU.S.cities. Thelowwagelaborforce FromJanuarythroughJuneof2008,wecompletedvalidsurveysof1,140workersinChicago andsuburbanCookCounty.Toqualifyforthesurvey,workershadtobe: Age18orolder. CurrentlyworkingforanemployerinCookCounty,includinghavingworkedatleast eighthoursintheweekbeforetheinterview. Afrontlineworkerthatis,notamanager,professionalortechnicalworker. Employedinalowwageindustryastheirprimaryjob(seeAppendixAforthedetailed listofeligiblejobs).
Wedesignedthesurveytobebroadenoughtocapturearangeofindustriesandoccupations acrosstheurbaneconomy,yettargetedenoughtoexcludeupperleveloccupationssuchas lawyersorstockbrokers(mostofwhicharenotcoveredbymanyofthelawsofinteresthere). Anoteontiming:Wefieldedthesurveyatthestartoftherecessionin2008,when unemploymentrateswerestillrelativelylow.Ourassessment,therefore,isthattheworkplace violationratesdocumentedinthisstudywerenotsignificantlyinfluencedbytherecession,and thattheyrepresentbusinessasusualintheregionslowwageindustries. RespondentDrivenSampling(RDS) Ourgoalwastoobtainaccurate,statisticallyrepresentativeestimatesoftheprevalenceof workplaceviolations.Onekeychallengewefacedwashowtoreachtheworkers.Surveysthat relyontelephoneinterviewsorCensusstylehomevisitsareunlikelytogaintheparticipationof thefullpopulationoflowwageworkers,manyofwhomaremissingfromofficialdatabases, vulnerablebecauseoftheirimmigrationstatus,and/orreluctanttotakepartinasurvey becauseoffearofretaliationbytheiremployers.Trustisalsoanissuewhenaskingfordetails aboutaworkersjob,thewagestheyreceive,andwhetherornottheyarepaidoffthebooks. Theseproblemshaverecentlyreceivedsignificantattentionfromstatisticiansandsocial scientists.Inthissurveyweuseaninnovativesamplingstrategythatwasdevelopedto overcomethebarriersofsurveyinghiddenorhardtoreachpopulations:Respondent DrivenSampling(RDS),originallydevelopedbyCornellUniversitysociologistandcollaborator DouglasHeckathorn,andsubsequentlyelaboratedalongwithotherscholars. AppendixAprovidesadetaileddescriptionoftheRDSmethodandhowweimplementeditin thissurvey,butthebasicconceptisstraightforward:samplingisdonethroughsocialnetworks. Recruitingstartedwithasmallnumberofworkerswhofitthestudycriteria.Aftertheywere interviewedtheyrecruitedotherworkersintheirexistingsocialnetworks;thoseworkers completedthesurveyandthenrecruitedothers,andsoon.Throughsuccessivewavesof recruitment,thesampleincreasedovertime.Akeyadvantageofthismethodisthatworkers arerecruitedbytrustedfriendsandacquaintanceswhoalreadyhaveparticipatedinthesurvey andcanvouchforitsconfidentiality.Thisprovidesapowerfulwaytoovercomethebarriersof fearanddisclosure. Wetookseveralstepstoensurethatoursampleisrepresentativeofthelargerpopulationof frontlineworkersinlowwageindustries.First,bycollectingdataonthesocialnetworksofthe respondents,andinparticulartakingintoaccountthesizeandinterconnectivityofthose 5
networks,RDSadjustsforthefactthatsomeindividualshavemoresocialconnectionsthan others,andthusaremorelikelytoberecruitedintothesurvey.Second,RDSadjustsforthe factthatdifferentgroupsofworkershavepatternsofrecruitmentthatvarybothinthetypeof workerstheyrecruitandintheeffectivenessoftheirrecruitmentefforts.Finally,wealso includedanadjustmenttoensurethatthedistributionofindustriesandoccupationsinour samplefullyreflectedthecompositionoftheregionslowwagelabormarket. SurveyswereconductedatsixsitesinChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty,including communitybasedorganizations,churches,andauniversity.Thesamesurveyinstrumentwas usedatthevarioussites,andtheRDSmethodologywasimplementedinthesameway,with detailedfieldingprotocolstoensurefullcomparability.Alloutreachmaterialsweretranslated intomultiplelanguages,andthesurveyswereconductedinEnglish,PolishandSpanish. Includingsurveyors,translators,fieldcoordinatorsandresearchers,atotalof18stafffielded thissurvey(seeAppendixAformoredetailsonthefieldingandmethodology).Interviews typicallylastedbetween60and90minutes.Inadditiontothesurvey,weconducted87in depth,semistructuredinterviewswithlowwageworkers.Indepthinterviewswereusedto betterunderstandworkersexperiencesinthelowwagelabormarket. Measuringworkplaceviolations Thesurveyisuniqueinthatitusesanoriginalseriesofdetailed,indepthquestionstomeasure arangeofviolationsofemploymentandlaborlaw.Thesurveyinstrumentwasdesignedto gatherinformationthatwouldallowustodetectviolationsoflawsguaranteeingtheminimum wageandovertimepay;fullandtimelypaymentofwagesowed;provisionoflegallyrequired mealandrestbreaks;protectionagainstretaliationbyemployersforcomplaintsaboutworking conditionsorattemptingtoorganize;andaccesstoworkerscompensationinsuranceinthe caseofanonthejobinjury. Thequestionnairedidnotrelyonworkershavinganydirectknowledgeabouttheirrightsunder employmentandlaborlaw,oraboutwhethertheyhadexperiencedaworkplaceviolation. Instead,ourstrategywastogatherrawinputsfromworkersthenecessarydataabouttheir hours,earningsandworkingconditions,aswellasrelevantemployeractions.Wethenused thesedatatodeterminewhetherornotalawhadbeenviolated. Forexample,wedidnotaskworkerswhethertheywerebeingpaidtheminimumwage. Instead,wegathereddaybydaydataonexactlyhowmanyhourstherespondentworkedthe weekbeforethesurvey,theamountofmoneyheorshereceived,whethertheemployermade anydeductions(e.g.foruniformsormeals),andwhethertherespondentworkedofftheclock. 6
Wethencalculatedtheworkerseffectivehourlywage,anddeterminedwhetherornotitwas belowtheminimumwage.Thisapproachgatheringrawdataandthencalculatingwhethera workplaceviolationoccurredwasusedforthemajorityofthemeasuresthatwereport.In calculatingthevariousviolationmeasures,wewerecarefulnevertodoublecountviolations. Forexample,ifarespondentworkedfiveovertimehoursbutwasnotpaidforthosehours,we recordedanovertimeviolation;oncethesefivehoursweretaggedasunpaid,theydidnot contributetoanyotherviolation(forexample,theycouldnotalsotriggeraminimumwage violation). Respondentcharacteristics Weclosethissectionwithaninitiallookatthe1,140workersinoursample.Table2.1presents anoverviewofkeydemographicandemploymentcharacteristics.Likethelowwageworkforce incitiesacrosstheUnitedStates,oursamplehasmorewomenthanmen;significantnumbers ofpersonsofcolor,especiallyLatinoworkers; 8 andarangeofagegroupsandeducationlevels. Consistentwithrecenttrendsinthelowwagelabormarket,immigrantscomprisealargepart ofoursample50percentofthesamplewasU.S.born,withtheremaindercomprisedof naturalizedcitizens,andauthorizedandunauthorizedimmigrants.Thesizeablenumberofthe lattercategoryinoursampleisanindicatorofoursuccessincapturingthishardtoreachpart ofthelabormarket. Giventhatourfocuswasonemploymentpracticesinlowwageindustries,itisnotsurprising thatworkersinoursampleearnedverylowwages.Themedianwage(in2008dollars)forour samplewas$7.75anhour,withfewrespondentsearningsignificantlymorethanthisamount: morethanthreequartersofoursampleearnedlessthan$10.00anhour.Thesample representsarangeofindustries(typesofbusinesses)andoccupations(jobtasksorfunctions). Reflectingthelargereconomy,mostworkersinoursampleareemployedintheservice sectorinindustriessuchasrestaurants,retailstores,andhomehealthcarebutthereisalso asizablesegmentemployedinresidentialconstruction,manufacturingandwarehousing. Similarly,manyoftheoccupationsinoursampleareservicejobs,suchascashiers,cooks, childcareworkers,waitersandsalesworkers,butconstructionlaborersandfactoryworkersare alsowellrepresented.Inshort,oursamplerepresentsarichanddiversemixoftheindustries andoccupationsthatcomprisetheregionaleconomy.Alloftheworkplaceviolationprevalence ratesandotherfindingsreportedinthefollowingsectionshavebeenweightedsothattheyare representativeofthelargerpopulationoffrontlineworkersinlowwageindustriesinCook Countyin2008.Byourestimate,thatpopulationincludesabout310,205workers,whichis25 percentofallfrontlineworkersand12percentofallworkersinCookCounty,asignificant portionoftheregionallabormarket(seeTableA.2inAppendixA). 7
Table2.1:CharacteristicsofWorkersinthe2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey,Chicagoand SuburbanCookCounty Percentofworkers

Gender Age Race Education Nativityandlegalstatus Mainindustryduring previousworkweek Mainoccupationduring previousworkweek Hourlywageduringpreviousworkweek(2008$) Totalnumberofworkersinthesample Male Female 1825 2635 3645 46+ Latino/Latina Black Asian/other White Lessthanhighschool,noGED HighschoolgraduateorGED Somecollegeorhigher U.S.borncitizen Foreignbornauthorized(includesnaturalizedcitizens) Foreignbornunauthorized Other(finance&otherhealthcare) Homehealthcare Residentialconstruction Grocerystores Retail&drugstores Personal&repairservices Security,building&groundsservices Socialassistance&education Privatehouseholds Manufacturing,transportation&warehousing Restaurants&hotels Teacherassistants Securityguards Generalconstruction Waiters,cafeteriaworkers&bartenders Stock&officeclerks Homehealthcareworkers Maids&housekeepers Personal&repairservicesworkers Cashiers,retailsalespersons&tellers Buildingservices&groundsworkers Childcareworkers Cooks,dishwashers&foodpreparers Factory&packagingworkers Medianhourlywage 38.2 61.8 24.0 34.4 18.8 22.8 56.7 26.1 6.6 10.6 38.0 35.6 26.5 50.3 18.8 31.0 2.8 3.0 4.3 5.8 6.3 7.8 9.3 9.6 11.9 18.9 20.2 0.7 2.6 3.9 4.1 4.5 4.8 5.6 6.6 11.3 11.8 12.8 15.1 16.2 $7.75 1,140
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey.
3. ThePrevalenceofWorkplaceViolations
TheAmericanworkplaceisgovernedbyacoresetofemploymentandlaborlawsthatestablish minimumstandardsforwages,healthandsafetyonthejob,fairtreatment,andtherightto organize.Butourfindingsshowthattheselawsaresystematicallyviolated,significantly impactingthelowwagelaborforceinChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty.Asweshowinthe followingpages,workersinlowwageindustriesregularlyexperienceviolationsoflaws mandatingminimumwageandovertimepay,andtheyarefrequentlyforcedtoworkoffthe clockorduringtheirbreaks. Table3.1summarizestheworkplaceviolationsexperiencedbysurveyrespondents.We computedtheseviolationratesusingtwodistinctmeasures.Thefirstisdesignedtospecify whatproportionofallworkersinoursurveysamplewhoexperiencedaviolation,whereasthe secondmeasurespecifiestheproportionofworkersexperiencingaviolationwhowereatrisk forthatviolation.Forexample,inthecaseofweeklyovertimepaylaws,aworkerisonlyatrisk ofaviolationifsheorheworksmorethan40hoursinaweek.Table3.1shows,inseparate columns,boththepercentageofallworkerssurveyedwhoexperiencedeachviolationandthe percentageofatriskworkerswhoexperiencedeachviolation.Inthissection,wepresent bothviolationmeasures;latersectionsfocusontherisksetmeasuresalone. 9
Raul and his wife Maribel lost their jobs when the factory where they worked for almost twenty years closed its doors. Raul says: The company informed us about it one week before the closing. They said to us, On Friday, when youve finished your job youll get paid and Ill thank you for the work youve done. Maribel inquired about the vacation time workers had accrued: We wont pay it, the manager responded, We dont have money. Raul was surprised by the situation: We didnt know the company didnt have any money because we had been working seven days a week. The employer had denied them due wages in the past as well. They treated us poorly, Raul says. The supervisor would ask us to work overtime but the company wouldnt pay that time. They would claim that the supervisor didnt have the power to authorize overtime work. Raul filed a complaint and the union sent a letter requesting the overtime payment. The supervisor told me that he could fire me for having complained, Raul says. I told them, if you think you can fire me for standing up for my rights, go ahead. I know my rights.

Table3.1:WorkplaceViolationRates
Violation Minimumwageviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Workerwaspaidbelowtheminimumwage Overtimeviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Workerhadunpaidorunderpaidovertime Offtheclockviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Workernotpaidforofftheclockwork Mealbreakviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Workerhadanyofthebelowmealbreakviolations Workerwasdeniedmealbreak Mealbreakwasinterruptedbyemployerorsupervisor Workerworkedthroughmealbreak Mealbreakwasshorterthanlegallyrequired Otherpayviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Workerwaspaidlate Workerdidnotreceiveapaystub Workerwassubjectedtoanillegalpaydeduction Tipswerestolenbyemployerorsupervisor Violationsinthe12monthperiodpriortosurvey Workerhadanyofthebelowpayviolationsinlast12months Workedofftheclockwithoutpayinlast12months Paidlateinlast12months Paidlessthanowedinlast12months Notpaidatallinlast12months Regularandrepeatedverbalabuseonthebasisofaprotectedcategoryinlast12months Retaliationviolationsformostrecentcomplaintororganizingeffort Workerexperiencedretaliationbyemployerformakingcomplaintororganizingaunion Workers'compensationviolationsformostrecentonthejobinjury Workerexperiencedanillegalactionbyemployer Tippedworkerminimumwageviolationsinweekpriortosurvey Tippedworkerdidnotreceivethetippedminimumwage Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofallworkersinoursample. **Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhowereatriskofaviolation.
Percentofworkers withviolations
Allworkers surveyed* 25.5 Workersatrisk ofaviolation** same
15.3
67.1
16.7
68.8
28.3 12.0 8.1 10.1 8.2
43.0 17.3 13.6 17.3 12.7
3.0 44.8 3.3 0.6
same same 43.9 4.6
45.2 28.7 22.9 16.9 4.2 2.0
same same same same same same
5.0 2.1
35.1
19.6
2.4

15.2
10
Minimumwageviolations MinimumwagelawshavebeenthebasicstandardofpayforfrontlineworkersintheU.S.labor marketsince1938,whentheFairLaborStandardsActwaspassedintolaw.Employersare requiredtopaycoveredworkersatorabovetheminimumwageassetbyfederalorstatelaw, whicheverishigher. 10 Minimumwagelawsapplytoworkersregardlessofwhethertheyare employedfullorparttime,orwhethertheyarepaidbythehour,bythepieceorinsome othermanner.Minimumwagelawsalsocoverunauthorizedimmigrantworkers,asdoallof theotherlawsconsideredinthisstudy.Atthetimeofoursurvey,theIllinoisminimumwage was$7.50. AsTable3.1shows,26percentoftheworkersinoursamplewerepaidlessthantheminimum wageinthepreviousworkweek.Moreover,theseminimumwageviolationswerenottrivialin magnitude:over60percentofworkersinoursamplewereunderpaidbymorethan$1per hour(Figure3.1),andthemedianunderpaymentwas$1.45belowtheStateofIllinoisminimum wage.
Figure3.1:AmountPaidBelowtheHourlyMinimumW agefor W orkerswithaMinimumW ageViolation
Morethan$4perhour
$3.01to$4perhour
10.0%
13.1%
$1perhourorless
36.5%
$2.01to$3perhour
11.5% 28.8%
$1.01to$2perhour
11
AsnotedinSection2,wedidnotrelyonourrespondentsknowledgeofemploymentandlabor lawstomeasuretheprevalenceofworkplaceviolations.Instead,wegathereddetailed informationfromeachworkerregardingtheworkweekimmediatelypriortohisorher interview.Wecalculatedeachrespondentshourlywagerateforthejob(s)inwhichheorshe workedthatweek,dividingtotalweeklyearningsbythenumberofhoursworked,aftertaking intoaccountbonuses,taxes,deductionsandovertimepay.Wethencomparedthiscalculated hourlywageratetotheIllinoisminimumwagetodeterminewhetherornottherewasa minimumwageviolation. 11
Overtimeviolations Federallawrequiresthatcoveredemployeesmustbepaidtimeandahalf(1.5timestheir regularrateofpay)forallhoursworkedover40duringeachweekforasingleemployer.One quarterofourrespondentsworkedmorethan40hoursduringthepreviousworkweekfora singleemployerandthereforewereeligibleforovertimepay,and67percentoftheseatrisk workerswerenotpaidthelegallyrequiredovertimeratebytheiremployers(Table3.1). 12 Nonpaymentorunderpaymentforovertimeworktakesavarietyofforms.Sixtythreepercent ofrespondentswhohadanovertimeviolationwerepaidonlytheirregularhourlyrateforthe hourstheyworkedover40,another30percentwerenotpaidatallforthosehours,and7 percentwerepaidlessthantheirusualhourlyrateorwerepromisedcomptimeinlieuof overtimepay.Likeminimumwageviolations,overtimeviolationswerefarfromtrivialin magnitude.Amongthoseworkerswithanovertimeviolation,theaveragerespondenthad workedeightovertimehoursinthepreviousweek,and11percenthadworkedmorethan20 overtimehours(seeFigure3.2).
12
Figure3.2:NumberofHoursW orkedOvertime(Beyond40Hours)for W orkerswithanOvertimeViolation
Morethan20hours
11.1%
10to20hours
16.3% 50.7%
5hoursorless
25.6%
5to10hours
Offtheclockviolations:unpaidtimebeforeorafteraregularshift Inadditiontounpaidovertime,manyfrontlineworkersinthelowwagelabormarketperform workthatisunpaid.Thisisofftheclockworkthattakesplacebeforeorafteraregularly scheduledshiftandforwhichnopayisprovided. 13 Offtheclockworkistechnicallyatypeof minimumwageviolation,butwechosetomeasureitseparatelyinthisstudybecauseit involvesemployeesnotbeingpaidatallfortimeworked.Bylaw,employeesmustbepaidfor allofthehourstheywork,andthereforeanyworkperformedbeforeorafterofficialstartand endtimesmustbecompensatedinaccordancewithminimumwagelaws.Inoursurvey,we askedworkerswhethertheybeganworkbeforetheirofficialshiftwastobeginorifthey workedaftertheirofficialendingtimeand,ifso,whetherornottheyreceivedpaymentforthis timeonthejob.Ifworkerscameinearlyand/orstayedlateandwerenotpaidatallforwork theyperformedduringthosetimeperiods,theyhadexperiencedanofftheclockviolation.
13
Nearlyonequarterofworkerssurveyed(23percent)statedthattheyhadworkedbefore and/oraftertheirregularshiftsinthepreviousworkweek.Oftheseatriskworkers,69 percentdidnotreceiveanypayatallfortheworktheyperformedoutsideoftheirregularshift. Respondentswhoexperiencedthisviolationtypicallyworkedanaverageoftwohoursperweek withoutpay. Mealbreakviolations Illinoislawrequiresemployerstoprovideworkersanuninterruptedmealbreakduringshiftsof 7.5hoursorlonger.Thelawdoesnotrequiretheemployertopayworkersduringthemeal break,butiftheemployeeworksduringthebreak,heorshemustbecompensated.We determinedwhetherworkersreceivedalloftheirrequiredmealbreaksandifthesebreaks wereoftherequiredlength. Seventyfivepercentofourrespondentsworkedenoughconsecutivehourstobelegally entitledtoamealbreak.However,asTable3.1indicates,43percentoftheseatriskworkers experiencedamealbreakviolationinthepreviousworkweek.Mealbreakviolationstooka varietyofforms.Oneinsixworkers(17percent)withthisviolationreceivednomealbreakat allatsomepointduringthepreviousweek,while13percenthadamealbreakthatwasshorter thanrequiredbylaw.Workersalsoreportedbeinginterruptedbytheiremployerduringtheir mealbreak(14percent)andworkingduringpartoftheirmealbreak(17percent). Otherpayviolations Inadditiontominimumwage,overtime,offtheclock,andmealbreakviolations,wecollected dataonseveralotherpayrelatedviolations.Weaskedworkersiftheyhadreceivedapaystub orotherdocumentationoftheirearningsanddeductions.AccordingtoIllinoislaw,all workersregardlessofwhethertheyarepaidincashorbycheckarerequiredtoreceive documentationoftheirearningsanddeductions.However,45percentofworkersinour sampledidnotreceivethismandatorydocumentation.Wealsoaskedaboutanydeductions thatweremadeduringthepreviousworkweek.InIllinois,employersaregenerallynot permittedtotakedeductionsfromaworkerspayfordamageorloss,workrelatedtools, materialsortransportation,oruniforms. 14 Amongrespondentswhoreporteddeductionsfrom theirpay,44percentweresubjectedtoillegaldeductions. Wealsoexaminedpayrelatedviolationsaffectingtippedworkers.UnderIllinoislaw,thereisa specialprovisionforworkerswhoreceivetipsasaregularpartoftheirwages.Inadditionto thetipstheyreceivefromcustomers,tippedworkersmustbepaidatleastaminimumbase wagebytheiremployerforthehourstheywork;however,thisbasewageislessthanthe 14
minimumwagefornontippedworkers.Wecalculatedthetippedminimumwageviolation ratebycomparingeachtippedworkersbasewagetothelegallyrequiredwagerate.Fourteen percentofworkersinoursamplereceivedtipsinthepreviousweek.Thesetippedworkers wereemployedinavarietyofjobs,themostcommonbeingrestaurantworkers,carwash workers,housekeepers,andotherpersonalserviceworkers.Ofthesetippedworkers,15 percentexperiencedviolationsofthetippedworkerminimumwage.Itisalsoillegalfor employersormanagerstoappropriateanyportionofthetipsgivenbycustomersinrestaurants orotherbusinesseswheretipsarecustomary.Nevertheless,5percentoftippedworkersinour samplereportedsuchtipstealingduringthepreviousworkweek.

Last year Evan worked in the restaurant industry as a waiter and experienced tip stealing. His employer stole tips from numerous paychecks. I hated getting credit card tips because thats where she would take it, says Evan. I calculated the percentage and I remember it was close to $50 to $100 dollars per paycheck. We actually confronted her about this at one point and she said that, when processing a credit card, theres usually a 2-3 percent fee that they pay. But she passed more than the fee on to us. I sat down with all of my credit card receipts at the end of the day, tallied it up, and was like well, this is more than 3 percent taken out of my paycheck for the month. I think it was close to 10 percent. There were no excuses for her to take money out of my paycheck.
Workplaceviolationsduringthelast12months Foralloftheviolationratesdiscussedsofar,wecalculatedwhetherornotaviolationoccurred duringtheweekpriortotheinterview,basedoninformationcollectedabouteachworkers hoursandearnings.Inaddition,weaskedworkersaseriesofquestionsabouttheir experiencesovertheprevious12months.Thepurposeofthesequestionswastomeasurethe prevalenceofworkplaceviolationsthatoccurrelativelyinfrequentlyandthusmightbemissed byquestionslimitedtoasingleworkweek. Fortyfivepercentofrespondentsexperiencedatleastonepayrelatedviolation(offtheclock work,latepayment,beingpaidlessthanowed,ornotbeingpaidatall)inthe12monthperiod priortotheirinterview: 29percenthadworkedofftheclockwithoutpayatleastonceinthelastyear.When workersexperiencedthisviolation,theydidsofrequently,onaverage20timesinthe lastyear. 23percentofworkershadbeenpaidlateatsomepointinthelastyear;onaverage,this groupexperiencedfourincidentsoflatepaymentovertheyear.
15
17percentofworkershadbeenpaidlessthantheywereowedbytheiremployersat leastonceinthelast12months;onaverage,thistookplacefourtimesforthosewho experiencedsuchunderpayment. 4percentofworkersinoursamplewerenotpaidatallforworktheyhadperformedat leastonceinthepreviousyear;amongtheseworkers,nonpaymentofwagesoccurred anaverageoftwotimesinthelastyear. Illegalretaliationbyemployers Thelawprotectsworkersfromemployerretaliationiftheycomplaintotheiremployerortoa governmentagencyabouttheirworkingconditions;retaliationagainstworkerswhoattemptto organizeaunionisalsoillegal. 15 Threateningtofireaworker,actuallyfiringorsuspending workers,cuttinghoursorpay,harassingorabusingworkers,orgivingworkersaworsework assignmentallareillegalformsofemployerretaliationiftheyoccurasadirectresultofa complaintorunionorganizingeffort. Weaskedrespondentswhethertheyhadmadeacomplaintinthelastyeartotheiremployer, totheirsupervisorortoagovernmentagency.Iftheyhad,wethengatheredinformation aboutthemostrecentcomplaint.Iftheyhadnotcomplained,weaskediftheyhadany problem(s)onthejoband,ifso,whytheychosenottocomplainabouttheproblem(s). Overall,25percentofworkersinoursampleeithermadeacomplaintorattemptedtoforma unioninthelastyear.Complaintsweremaderegardinganumberofworkplaceissues, including:dangerousworkingconditions(20percent),notbeingpaidforallhoursworked(9 percent),beingpaidbelowtheminimumwage(6percent),notbeingpaidontime(4percent), andnotbeingpaidforovertime(1percent).Ofthoseworkerswhomadeacomplaint,35 percentreportedexperiencingretaliationfromtheiremployerorsupervisorasadirectresultof theirmostrecentcomplaintororganizingeffort.Figure3.3showsthevariouswaysinwhich employersillegallyretaliatedagainstworkersincludingactionssuchascuttingworkershours andpay,threateningtocallimmigrationauthorities,firingworkers,andincreasingworkloads. Despitetheexistenceoflegalprotectionsfromretaliation,manyworkerschosenottomake complaintstotheiremployers,evenwhentheyencounteredsubstandardconditionsinthe workplace.Inoursample,15percentofworkersindicatedthattheydidnotmakeacomplaint duringthepast12monthseventhoughtheyhadexperiencedaseriousproblemsuchas dangerousworkingconditions,discriminationornotbeingpaidtheminimumwage.Overhalf (52percent)oftheseworkersindicatedthattheydidnotmakeacomplaintbecausetheywere
16
afraidoflosingtheirjob,12percentwereafraidtheywouldhavetheirhoursorwagescut,and 36percentthoughtitwouldnotmakeanydifferenceiftheycomplained.Fearofretaliation andexpectationsofemployerindifference,then,figurestronglyinworkersdecisionsabout whetherornottomakeacomplaint.

Figure3.3:TypesofIllegalRetaliationbyEmployers*
100% 90% 80% 70%
Violation 60% Rate

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
57.3% 44.7% 39.9%
17.1%
Employercutworkers' Employerthreatenedto hoursorpay,orgave fireworkersorcall worseworkassignments immigrationauthorities
Employerfiredor suspendedworkers
Employerharassedor abusedworkers,or increasedworkload
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedonlyforworkerswhohadexperiencedillegalretaliationformakingacomplaintororganizingaunionduringtheyearpreviousto thesurvey.Workerscouldreportmorethanonetypeofretaliation.
Workerscompensation Withveryfewexceptions,workerscompensationlawstipulatesthatemployersareobligated tocarryworkerscompensationinsuranceinordertocovercostsincurredwhenanemployeeis injuredorbecomessickonthejobforworkrelatedreasons.Thesecostsincludemedicalbills aswellaswageslostduetotimeawayfromworkbecauseoftheinjuryorillness.
17
Fifteenpercentofourrespondentsexperiencedaseriousonthejobinjury 16 duringthe previousthreeyearsofwork.Fortheseworkers,wegatheredinformationaboutthemost recentworkrelatedinjury,andabouttheemployersresponsetothatinjury,inorderto determinewhetheraviolationofworkerscompensationlawhadoccurred.Wefoundthatthe workerscompensationsystemisveryrarelyusedbyourrespondents.Only9percentofthe workersinoursamplewhoexperiencedaseriousinjuryduringthepreviousthreeyearshad filedaworkerscompensationclaimfortheirmostrecentinjury.Thisfindingclearlyindicates thattheworkerscompensationsystemisnotfunctioningasintendedforfrontlineworkersin thelowwagelabormarket. Thesurveydatasuggestthatemployersfrequentlyfailtoobservetherequirementsofworkers compensationlawwhenrespondingtoonthejobinjuries.Fully38percentofseriouslyinjured respondentsreportedthattheywererequiredtoworkdespitetheirinjury;anadditional25 percentsaidtheiremployerrefusedtohelpthemwiththeinjury;18percentwerefiredshortly aftertheinjury;8percentsaidtheiremployermadethemcomeintoworkandjustsitthereall day;5percentwerethreatenedwithdeportationornotificationofimmigrationauthorities;and 2percentweretoldbytheiremployersnottofileaworkerscompensationclaim.Only8 percentofemployersinstructedinjuredworkerstofileaworkerscompensationclaim. Notalloftheemployerresponsestoonthejobinjuriesreportedaboveareillegal.Table3.1 showsworkerscompensationviolationrates,butonlyforillegalemployeractionssuchas: firingorthreateningtofireaninjuredworker,callingimmigrationauthoritiesinresponsetoan onthejobinjuryofanunauthorizedworker,orinstructinganinjuredworkernottofilefor workerscompensationinsurance. 17 Twentypercentofthoserespondentswhosufferedan injuryinthepastthreeyearsexperiencedaviolationofworkerscompensationlawfortheir mostrecentinjury. Wealsogatheredinformationonwhopaidforinjuredworkersmedicalexpenses.Fiftyfive percentofrespondentswhoexperiencedaseriousinjuryatworksoughtmedicalattentionfor thatinjury,butwithinthisgroup,only44percentindicatedthattheiremployerspaidforallor partoftheirmedicalbills.Abouthalfoftheworkerswhosoughtmedicalattentionafteranon thejobinjuryhadtopaytheirbillsoutofpocket(41percent)orusedtheirhealthinsuranceto covertheexpenses(8percent).Workerscompensationinsurancepaidthemedicalexpenses foronly3percentoftheworkersinoursamplewhovisitedadoctorforanonthejobinjuryor illness. 18
Ana worked for a cleaning company for five years, where she earned $8 an hour and was paid regular time when she worked overtime. Ana comments: One time I worked for 22 hours in a row and I got paid only $120. My boss told me that was all he could give me. She is owed about $1,800 from bounced checks, plus wages she should have received if her employer had abided by overtime laws. She was fired from her cleaning job after she developed carpal tunnel syndrome. Ana says the debilitating illness was caused by the strenuous work she had been doing: I got carpal tunnel in my hands from the repetitive motion. My sister had to help me do everything during that time. I went to Cook County Hospital and I covered my medical expenses. But I couldnt afford to go to therapy. Im lucky because I live with my sisterthat is how I have been able to survive. I fell behind on my school payments, and now I even owe the IRS because my employer was not deducting money from my check.
Summary FrontlineworkersinChicagoandsuburbanCookCountyfrequentlyarepaidbelowthe minimumwage,notpaidforovertime,workofftheclockwithoutpay,andhavetheirmeal breaksdenied,interruptedorshortened.Infact,nearlyhalf(47percent)oftheworkersinour sampleexperiencedatleastonetypeofpayrelatedviolationintheirpreviousweekofwork. 18 Morethanonequarteroftheworkersinoursamplewerepaidlessthantheminimumwagefor theirpreviousworkweek,andamongworkerswhoworkedmorethan40hoursintheir previousworkweek,morethantwothirdswerenotpaidthelegallyrequiredovertimerate. Ourdataalsoshowthatemployerretaliationiscommon:amongthoseworkersinoursample whomadecomplaintsorattemptedtoorganizeaunion,35percentexperiencedretaliation fromtheiremployerorsupervisor.Inaddition,wefoundthattheworkerscompensation systemisnotfunctioningforworkersinthelowwagelabormarket.Thesystemisveryseldom usedbyinjuredworkersand(likelynotunrelated)manyemployerseitherdirectlyorindirectly discourageworkersfromfilingclaims.Inshort,thecoreworkplacelawsestablishedduringthe lastcenturyarebeingregularlyviolatedbyemployersinthelowwagelabormarket.Intherest ofthisreportweexploretheseviolationsinmoredetail,examiningtheindustriesand occupationsinwhichtheymostoftenarefound,aswellastheworkerswhoaremostaffected.
19
4. TheRoleofJobandEmployerCharacteristics
Workplaceviolationsultimatelyaretheresultofdecisionsmadebyemployerswhethertopay theminimumwageorovertime,whethertogiveworkersmealbreaks,orhowtorespondto complaintsaboutworkingconditions.Forthisreason,weexploresomekeycharacteristicsof ourrespondentsemployersinthissectionofthereport,asking:Whichtypesofbusinesses tendtoviolateemploymentandlaborlawsthemost?Whichoccupationsarehardesthit?Do violationratesvarybythesizeofthebusiness?Andaretherespecificemployerpracticesthat areassociatedwithorenableworkplaceviolations?Thissectionexaminesworkplaceviolations throughthelensofjobandemployercharacteristics,analyzingdifferencesinworkplace violationratesbyindustry,occupation,companysize,aswellasbypayarrangement(Table 4.1). 19
Table4.1:WorkplaceViolationRatesbyJobandEmployerCharacteristics
Percentofworkerswithviolations
Minimumwage violationrate Hourly Nonhourly Cash Companycheck Lessthan100employees 100employeesormore 16.4 53.1 42.5 15.8 33.1 15.5 Overtime violationrate* 58.5 82.1 70.1 60.1 84.5 52.0 Offtheclock violationrate* 60.0 91.0 70.8 68.2 73.9 64.3 Mealbreak violationrate* 35.3 64.6 54.1 36.3 54.0 29.1
PayType PayMethod CompanySize
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentageofallworkerswhowereatriskforaviolationduringthepreviousworkweek.
Minimumwageviolations Minimumwageviolationratesvarysignificantlybyindustry,asshowninFigure4.1. 20 Violationsweremostcommoninprivatehouseholdsandinpersonalandrepairservices,where morethan60percentofworkerswerepaidlessthantheminimumwage.Otherhighviolation industriesinclude,retailanddrugstores,socialassistanceandeducation,andgrocerystores. 21
20
Figure4.1:MinimumW ageViolationRatesbyIndustry
Privatehouseholds Personal&repairservices Retail&drugstores Socialassistance&education Grocerystores Homehealthcare Restaurants&hotels Residentialconstruction M anufacturing,transportation&warehousing Security,building&groundsservices Other(finance&otherhealthcare)
0%
61.3% 60.1% 32.0% 30.2% 25.9% 22.5% 22.3% 21.2% 21.1% 19.7% 5.8%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ViolationRate
AsFigure4.2shows,minimumwageviolationratesalsovarybyoccupation.Childcare workers,manyofwhomworkinprivatehouseholds,hadaviolationrateof75percent.Sixty percentofpersonalservicesandrepairworkersalsohadaminimumwageviolation.Other highviolationoccupationsinclude,buildingservicesandgroundsworkers;cashiers,retail salespersonsandtellers;andhomehealthcareworkers.
21

Figure4.2:MinimumW ageViolationRatesbyOccupation
Childcareworkers Personal&repairservicesworkers Buildingservices&groundsworkers Cashiers,retailsalespersons&tellers Homehealthcareworkers Cooks,dishwashers&foodpreparers Stock&officeclerks Generalconstruction M aids&housekeepers Factory&packagingworkers Securityguards Waiters,cafeteriaworkers&bartenders
0%
74.6% 60.1% 35.8% 33.0% 29.8% 24.7% 24.0% 22.6% 19.9% 18.1% 8.2% 2.4%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ViolationRate
Althoughmanyemployersinlowwageindustriespaytheirworkersaregularhourlywage, othersuseweekly,dailyorotherpaytypes. 22 Manyworkersarepaidonaflatweeklybasis,so thattheirpaydoesnotincreasewiththenumberofhourstheywork.Aprepcook,for example,mightbepaid$300weeklyandbeexpectedtoworkbetween35and50hourseach week,dependingonhowbusytherestaurantisandhowthemanagerschedulesworkshifts. Otherworkersarepaidonaflatdailybasis.Intheresidentialconstructionindustry,aday laborermightreceive$80foradayswork,regardlessofthenumberofhoursinvolved.In apparelandtextilemanufacturing,workersareoftenpaidbythepieceforexample,a garmentworkermightbepaidsevencentsforeachshirtsleeveshesews.Overall,74percent ofoursamplewaspaidanhourlywage;oftheremaining26percent,mostwerepaideithera flatweeklyoraflatdailyamount.
22
AsTable4.1shows,workersinoursamplewhohadnonhourlypaytypeshadsubstantially higherminimumwageviolationrates(53percent)thanthosewhowerepaidanhourlywage (16percent).Thisisnotsurprising,sincewhenemployersusenonhourlypaytypes,workers wagesareonlylooselytiedtothenumberofhourstheyworkandanyincreaseinhourscan resultinwagesfallingbelowthelegalminimum.Inoursample,higherminimumwageviolation ratesfornonhourlyworkersareevidentwithin(aswellasacross)industriesandoccupations. Minimumwageviolationratesalsovarysharplydependingonwhetherworkersarepaidincash orbycompanycheck. 23 Althoughitisnotillegalforemployerstopayemployeesincash,the lawrequiresthatemployeesbeprovidedanitemizedstatementofearningsanddeductionsfor eachpayperiod.Asnotedintheprevioussection,45percentofworkersinoursampledidnot receivetherequiredstatementfromtheiremployerandamongworkerswhowerepaidin cash,fully94percentdidnotreceivesuchastatement.Withoutthetransparencyaffordedby paystatements,workersoftenareunabletodeterminewhethertheyhavereceivedthewages theyaredue.AsTable4.1shows,workerswhowerepaidincashhadnearlytriplethe minimumwageviolationrateofthosepaidbycompanycheck(43percentand16percent, respectively). Paytype(hourlyversusnonhourly)andpaymethod(cashversuscompanycheck)arerelated butnotthesame.Onemightexpectthatworkerswhowerepaidaregularhourlywagewould generallybepaidbycompanycheck,butnearlyonequarterofhourlyworkersinoursample werepaidincash.Thatsaid,whenbothpaytypeandpaymethodwerenonstandard, minimumwageviolationswereespeciallyhighforworkersinoursample.AsFigure4.3shows, workerswhowerepaidonanhourlybasisandbycompanycheckhadthelowestminimum wageviolationrate,at13percent.Bycontrastnonhourlyworkerswhowerepaidincashhada violationrateoverfourtimesthislevel(60percent). Finally,companysizehasasignificantrelationshiptominimumwageviolationrates.AsTable 4.1shows,workersemployedincompanieswithlessthan100employeeshadaviolationrate morethandoublethatofworkersinlargercompanies(33percentand16percent, respectively).
23
Figure4.3:MinimumW ageViolationRatesbyPayArrangement
100% 90% 80% 70%
60.1%
60%
Violation 50% Rate

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
28.8% 24.8% 13.3%
W orkerpaidhourly bycompanycheck
W orkerpaidhourly incash
W orkerpaidnonhourly bycompanycheck
W orkerpaidnonhourly bycash
As a former restaurant and cleaning services employee, Mercedes has experienced wage theft numerous times. In both industries she worked long hours for little pay. Mercedes says: I took my last job at a restaurant because I had a great economic need. The employer offered to pay me $300 for six days of work, working 12 hours every day. I worked from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. At work we couldnt eat or we would have to eat standing, there was not timethere was too much work to be done. The employer also withheld three days of wages from Mercedes as a deposit when she began working, which she never recovered. They never paid me the three days of work that they kept as deposit when I started working. They never paid me minimum wage or overtime. They owe me $10,000 not including the three days of deposit, she says. Mercedes quit her job at the restaurant and found another job at a cleaning company. At first, the guy in charge told me that there were no set wages, and that they divided the money they made equally among everyone in the team and that they paid monthly, says Mercedes. I decided to give it a try because, again, I needed to work. The first time I got paid was for a week worth of work. I got paid $250 for nine days working 12 hours a day! I asked him about it and he tried to explain. He gave me some mumble-jumble that didnt make any sense. We agreed that from then on he was going to pay me $30 a day, and when we had fewer people in the team he would pay me $50. I worked 22 days and received $500. I was expecting at least $700. Although it doesnt sound like much, I need that money. Im not making enough money to pay my bills right now, and I have debts to pay. All this time Ive been turning to friends to borrow money to be able to pay rent.
24
Overtimeviolations Overtimeviolationscanoccurinanumberofways. 24 Someemployersonlypayworkerstheir regularhourlyrateorstraighttimeforovertimehours,ratherthanthetimeandahalf raterequiredbylaw.Otheremployersfailtopayemployeesanythingatallfortheirovertime hours.Forexample,afulltimechildcareworkermightbepaid$400aweektocareforsmall childrenandtoperformvariouslighthousekeepingduties.Sheroutinelymaybeexpectedto extendthosehoursbeyondthe40hourthresholdwhenfamilymembersreturnhomelate, thoughhersalaryremainsthesame.Stillotheremployersmaygiveworkerssmallamountsof payforovertimesay,anextra$20forfiveadditionalhoursonSaturday,afterafullweeks work.Aswesawintheprevioussection,67percentofrespondentsinoursamplewhoworked morethan40hoursduringthepreviousworkweekforasingleemployerdidnotgetpaidfor overtimeasrequiredbylaw.Figure4.4showsthatovertimeviolationratesarehighacrossall theindustriesinoursample,rangingfrom52percentinthegrocery,retail,anddrugstore industry,to89percentforworkersintheprivatehouseholdindustry.
Figure4.4:OvertimeViolationRatesbyIndustry*
Privatehouseholds
88.6%
Personal&repairservices
77.1%
Restaurants&hotels
70.6%
Socialassistance,education, finance&healthcare Residentialconstruction, security,building&grounds services M anufacturing,transportation &warehousing
58.8%
58.0%
54.8%
Grocery,retail&drugstores
52.1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
ViolationRate
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthepreviousworkweek.
25
Figure4.5showsthatovertimeviolationratesarehighacrossalltheoccupationsinoursample, buttherealsoissubstantialvariationinviolationrates.Ratesareparticularlyhighforchildcare workersandteacherassistants,withaviolationrateoffully92percentamongthosewho workedmorethan40hoursduringthepreviousworkweek.

Figure4.5:OvertimeViolationRatesbyOccupation*
Childcareworkers&teacher assistants
91.9%
M aids,housekeepers&home healthcareworkers
81.8%
Cashiers,retailsalespersons, tellers,stock&officeclerks
65.7%
Cooks,waiters,dishwashers& foodpreparers
61.8%
Personal&repairservices workers
57.3%
Security,construction,and buildingservicesworkers
55.3%
0% 10% ViolationRate
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthepreviousworkweek.
Table4.1showstherelationshipbetweenpaytypeandovertimeviolations.Aswasthecasefor minimumwageviolations,nonhourlyworkersinoursampleexperienceddisproportionately highovertimeviolationrates.Amongthosewhoworkedmorethan40hoursduringthe previousworkweekforasingleemployer,82percentofnonhourlyworkershadanovertime payviolation.Thishighviolationrateisnotsurprising,sinceflatweeklyorflatdailypayrates, bydefinition,donotvarywithhoursworked.Buthourlyworkersalsofaceveryhighovertime violationrates:59percentwerenotpaidorwereunderpaidfortheirovertimehoursinthe 26
previousworkweek.Overtimeviolationratesalsovarywithcompanysize.AsTable4.1shows, frontlineworkersincompanieswithlessthan100employeeshadanovertimeviolationrateof 85percent. 25 Bycontrast,workersincompanieswith100ormoreemployeeshadaviolation rateof52percent. Offtheclockviolations Alargemajority(69percent)ofworkersinoursamplewhoworkedbeforeand/oraftertheir shiftinthepreviousworkweekwerenotpaidforthatpartoftheirworkingtime.Figures4.6 and4.7showtheseofftheclockviolationratesbyindustryandoccupation.

Figure4.6:OfftheclockViolationRatesbyIndustry*
Socialassistance,education, finance&healthcare
78.0%
Privatehouseholds
77.9%
Personal&repairservices
70.2%
Grocery,retail&drugstores
70.2%
Restaurants&hotels
65.3%
Residentialconstruction, security,building&grounds services

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
64.6%
70%
80%
90%
ViolationRate
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedbeforeoraftertheirofficialshiftduringthepreviousworkweek.
27
Figure4.7:OfftheclockViolationRatesbyOccupation*
Cashiers,retailsalespersons, tellers,stock&officeclerks
75.5%
M aids,housekeepers&home healthcareworkers
72.9%
Security,construction,and buildingservicesworkers
67.6%
Cooks,waiters,dishwashers& foodpreparers
65.8%
Personal&repairservices workers
64.9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
ViolationRate
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedbeforeoraftertheirofficialshiftduringthepreviousworkweek.
AsTable4.1shows,workerswithnonhourlypaytype(suchasflatdailyorweeklypay)had higherofftheclockpayviolationratesthanthosepaidbythehour.
Three years ago Eduardo joined the staff of a newly-opened restaurant on the North Side of Chicago. He was offered a weekly pay rate of $750 and worked five days a week from 3 p.m. to midnight. He was in charge of the kitchen and responsible for opening the restaurant. Eduardo says: Everything was going well at the beginning but after about eight months my checks began to bounce. When we confronted the employer she would say I dont have money, and she would ask us to wait until the next pay period. And every time she would replace the check that had bounced but she kept on staying behind on the new payment. She also began to pay us with personal checks and was no longer deducting taxes. He also accrued substantial amounts of off-the-clock time. I prepared the food and I even went shopping for the products with her (employer) at 7 or 8 a.m. I didnt get paid for those hours. My responsibilities and my hours increased. I was working 12 or 13 hours, seven days a week. I didnt have any time for my family. I felt bad because I didnt have money to take the kids out, or even to buy them shoes and winter jackets.
28
Mealbreakviolations Figures4.8and4.9showmealbreakviolationratesbyindustryandoccupation.Among respondentswhoworkedenoughhourstoqualifyforamealbreak,43percenthadtheirbreaks denied,shortenedorinterrupted.Violationrateswereespeciallyhighforworkersincare givingindustriesandoccupations(privatehouseholdsandchildcareworkers).

Figure4.8:MealBreakViolationRatesbyIndustry*
Privatehouseholds 77.9%
Restaurants&hotels
53.9%
Personal&repairservices Security,building&grounds services Socialassistance&education 33.7%
40.7%
40.4%
Retail&drugstores
30.3%
Residentialconstruction
28.2%
Grocerystores Other(finance&otherhealth care) M anufacturing,transportation &warehousing

0%
28.0%
27.4%
10.6%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ViolationRate
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhowerelegallyentitledtoatleastonemealbreakduringthepreviousworkweek.
29
Figure4.9:MealBreakViolationRatesbyOccupation*
Childcareworkers Securityguards Waiters,cafeteriaworkers&bartenders Homehealthcareworkers Personal&repairservicesworkers Cooks,dishwashers&foodpreparers M aids&housekeepers Cashiers,retailsalespersons&tellers Generalconstruction Stock&officeclerks Buildingservices&groundsworkers Factory&packagingworkers
0%
88.7% 64.0% 63.0% 62.8% 51.1% 48.7% 40.8% 36.0% 26.1% 24.6% 20.4% 7.3%
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ViolationRate
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhowerelegallyentitledtoatleastonemealbreakduringthepreviousworkweek.
Finally,Table4.1showsthatmealbreakviolationsratesvarybypayarrangement.Sixtyfive percentofnonhourlyworkersand54percentofworkerspaidincashreportedamealbreak violation. Violationratesalsovarybycompanysize.Overhalfofthoseemployedbycompanieswithless than100workershadamealbreakviolation,comparedwithlessthanonethirdofthose employedbylargercompanies. Summary Jobandemployercharacteristicsarestrongdeterminantsofworkplaceviolationsandinfact, haveamuchgreaterimpactonviolationratesthandoworkercharacteristics,aswewillseein Section6below.Specifically: 30
Workplaceviolationratesvarysignificantlybyindustryandoccupation.Forexample, minimumwageviolationratesrangedfromaslittleas6percentinsomeindustriestoas muchas61percentinothers,andtherangeacrossoccupationsissimilarlywide. Someindustriesandoccupationsarerifewithmultipleviolations,suggestingthatnon compliancewithemploymentandlaborlawsmayhavebecomeastandardbusiness practice.Forexample,over60percentofallpersonalandrepairservicesworkersinour samplehadaminimumwageviolationand77percenthadanovertimeviolation.High violationrateswerealsotypicaloftheprivatehouseholdindustry. Employerscandisguisepayrelatedviolationsbyusingnonhourlypayarrangements and/orpayingworkersincashwithoutprovidingastatementofearningsand deductions.Workerspaidaflatweeklyrateorpaidincashhadmuchhigherviolation ratesthanthosepaidastandardhourlyrateandpaidbycompanycheck.Informalpay systemsmayfacilitateminimumwageandotherviolations,whilemakingitharderfor workerstoclaimtheirrightsunderthelaw. Workersemployedbycompanieswithlessthan100employeeswereatgreaterriskof experiencingviolationsthanthoseemployedbylargercompanies.Buttheproblemof workplaceviolationsisbynomeanslimitedtosmallfirms.Inoursample,nearlyone outofsixworkersatlargecompanieshadaminimumwageviolationintheprevious week,andamongthosewhoworkedovertime,overhalfwereunderpaidornotpaidat allfortheextrahours.
31
5. TheRoleofWorkerCharacteristics
Workplaceviolationsarenotevenlydistributedthroughoutthelowwagelabormarket,aswe haveseen,butvarywithindustry,occupationandotherjobandemployercharacteristics. Thesevariationshaveademographicdimensionaswell.Workercharacteristicsplayarolein twoimportantways:somegroupsofworkersaremorelikelytoholdjobsinthelowwagelabor marketthanothers(e.g.women,immigrantsandpeopleofcolor),andwithinthelowwage labormarket,somegroupsofworkersaremorelikelytoexperienceviolationsthanothers,as wewillseeinthissection.Specifically,weexamineworkplaceviolationsinrelationtogender, race/ethnicity,education,ageandnativity;andamongtheforeignborn,bydateofarrivalin theU.S.,Englishlanguageproficiencyandimmigrationstatus. Minimumwageviolations AsTable5.1shows,minimumwageviolationratesvariedwithraceandethnicity:35percentof blackand30percentofLatinoworkersinoursampleexperiencedminimumwageviolations, comparedto5percentofwhiterespondents.Nativityisalsoasalientfactorhere:31percent offoreignbornworkershadminimumwageviolations,comparedto20percentfortheirU.S. borncounterparts.Wedidnotfindstatisticallysignificantdifferencesinminimumwage violationratesbetweenwomenandmen. 26 U.S.bornworkersinoursamplehadlowerminimumwageviolationratesthanforeignborn workers.Butheretoothestoryismorenuanced,asshowninTable5.1.Forexample,foreign bornLatinoshadanespeciallyhighminimumwageviolationrateof32percent,nearlytriple therateofU.S.bornLatinosandmorethan24timestherateofU.S.bornwhites.Andrace playsanimportantroleamongU.S.bornrespondents,whereAfricanAmericanworkershada violationrate27timesthatofwhiteworkers(andtriplethatofU.S.bornLatinoworkers). Educationplaysanimportantroleinpredictingminimumwageviolationrates.Workers withoutahighschooldegreeorGEDhaveviolationratesthataresignificantlyhigherthan thoseofworkerswithahighschooldegreeorwhohaveattendedcollege(seeTable5.1).That said,highereducationdoesnotcompletelyinsulateworkersfromminimumwageviolations.In addition,violationratesarelowerforworkerswhohadvocationaltraining.Thissuggeststhat trainingandplacementprovidershavebeensuccessfulinplacingworkersintobetterjobs wherelaborstandardsare,ingeneral,higher. 32
Table5.1:MinimumWageViolationRatesbyWorkerCharacteristics Percentofworkerswithviolations Allworkers U.S.born Foreignborn 25.5 20.3 30.8 Allrespondents

Gender Race/ethnicity Education Age Vocationaltraining Jobtenure Male Female Latino/Latina Black Asian/other White Lessthanhighschool,noGED HighschoolgraduateorGED Somecollegeorhigher 1825 2635 3645 46+ None Completedtrainingprogram Lessthan3years 34years 5+years 18.8 28.1 30.0 34.7 15.2 4.5 37.7 21.5 13.3 27.2 24.4 21.8 24.7 28.7 18.0 28.7 16.2 20.5 17.7 22.3 11.8 34.8 17.3 1.3 28.1 20.5 12.4 24.5 11.3 18.8 23.9 23.1 16.0 24.7 10.2 11.4 20.0 34.0 31.8 N/A N/A N/A 47.4 22.5 14.2 29.9 37.7 24.9 25.6 34.3 19.9 32.8 22.2 29.7
Foreignbornrespondents
Legalstatus YearssincearrivalintheU.S. Englishproficiency Authorized Unauthorized Lessthan6years 6+years Speaksverywellorwell Speaksnotwellornotatall 28.9 38.1 28.0 32.8 13.3 34.2
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.
ImmigrantswhospeakEnglishwellorverywell(asselfreported)hadsignificantlylower minimumwageviolationratesthanthosewhospeaknotwellornotatall(seeTable5.1). Table5.1alsoshowsthatforeignbornrespondentswhohadlivedintheU.S.sixormoreyears atthetimeofthesurveyhadaminimumwageviolationratesimilartothatofnewcomers. Jobtenureandageareoftenstrongpredictorsoflabormarketoutcomes,suchashigherwages, benefits,promotions,andthelike.Butinoursampleofworkers,neithervariablewasagood predictorofviolationrates(seeTable5.1). 27 33
Overtimeviolations Overtimeviolationsvarymuchlessamongdemographicgroupsthandominimumwage violations.Forrespondentswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthe previousworkweek,theprevalenceofovertimeviolationsisveryhighacrossvirtuallyall demographicgroups,asTable5.2shows.

Table5.2:OvertimeViolationRatesbyWorkerCharacteristics Percentofworkerswithviolations* Allworkers U.S.born Foreignborn 67.1 61.4 72.9 Allrespondents
Gender Race/ethnicity Education Age Vocationaltraining Jobtenure Male Female Latino/Latina Black Asian/other White Lessthanhighschool,noGED HighschoolgraduateorGED Somecollegeorhigher 1825 2635 3645 46+ None Completedtrainingprogram Lessthan3years 34years 5+years 64.4 71.6 68.8 58.7 N/A N/A 76.8 69.4 63.5 54.9 67.8 67.1 73.5 64.4 72.9 65.8 54.7 73.2 60.2 69.5 N/A 58.8 N/A N/A 49.3 63.9 64.9 53.8 62.8 62.8 71.9 57.6 66.4 66.2 52.9 N/A 68.5 73.7 69.3 N/A N/A N/A 83.8 76.0 63.4 56.1 72.8 N/A N/A 71.2 N/A 65.3 N/A N/A
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.
34
Offtheclockviolations Thepatternsforofftheclockviolationsaresimilartothoseforovertime,asTable5.3shows, withofftheclockviolationratesvaryinglittleacrossdemographicgroups.

Table5.3:OfftheclockViolationRatesbyWorkerCharacteristics Percentofworkerswithviolations*
Allworkers U.S.born Foreignborn
Allrespondents
Gender Race/ethnicity Education Age Vocationaltraining Jobtenure Male Female Latino/Latina Black Asian/other White Lessthanhighschool,noGED HighschoolgraduateorGED Somecollegeorhigher 1825 2635 3645 46+ None Completedtrainingprogram Lessthan3years 34years 5+years
68.8
60.2 69.2 68.2 75.5 N/A N/A 79.9 56.9 75.4 53.3 61.2 72.3 76.5 68.0 70.1 64.7 84.3 73.3
68.8
67.9 69.4 N/A N/A N/A N/A 85.7 52.9 74.9 68.0 43.1 82.9 87.9 67.1 70.5 70.4 80.7 N/A
68.9
52.4 69.0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 73.9 61.0 75.9 38.5 79.5 N/A N/A 68.9 68.3 58.9 N/A N/A
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedbeforeoraftertheirofficialshiftduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.
35
Mealbreakviolations Mealbreakviolationsalsoshowverylimitedvariationacrossdemographiccategories.Meal breakviolationrateswerehigherforwhitesthanforLatinos,andforunauthorizedimmigrant workersthanforauthorizedimmigrantworkers,asTable5.4shows.Therewerenoother statisticallysignificantdifferencesamongdemographicgroupsforthisviolation.

Table5.4:MealBreakViolationRatesbyWorkerCharacteristics Percentofworkerswithviolations*
Allworkers U.S.born Foreignborn
Allrespondents
Gender Race/ethnicity Education Age Vocationaltraining Jobtenure Male Female Latino/Latina Black Asian/other White Lessthanhighschool,noGED HighschoolgraduateorGED Somecollegeorhigher 1825 2635 3645 46+ None Completedtrainingprogram Lessthan3years 34years 5+years
43.0
38.7 47.5 35.1 43.1 36.7 64.4 46.7 48.4 35.7 42.4 51.8 38.4 36.1 45.4 38.0 44.2 47.6 37.1
47.6
42.3 55.1 N/A N/A N/A N/A 54.1 52.9 39.1 49.0 63.3 39.7 33.8 50.0 43.2 50.1 47.3 37.0
38.3
35.0 39.7 N/A N/A N/A N/A 39.3 43.8 32.3 35.8 40.2 37.2 38.4 40.8 32.7 38.1 48.0 37.3
Legalstatus YearssincearrivalintheU.S. Englishproficiency Authorized Unauthorized Lessthan6years 6+years Speaksverywellorwell Speaksnotwellornotatall 53.6 25.8 28.9 N/A 50.2 34.9
Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhowerelegallyentitledtoatleastonemealbreakduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.
36
Summary Nativity,raceandethnicityeachplayaroleinshapingthepatternsofworkplaceviolations reportedhere.Butthesedimensionsaredeeplyintertwined,andneedtobeexamined togetherinordertounderstandwhichgroupsofworkersaremostatriskofaviolation. ForeignbornworkersweremorelikelythantheirU.S.borncounterpartstohavea minimumwageviolation. AmongU.S.bornworkers,therewasasignificantdifferencebyrace:theviolation rateforAfricanAmericanworkerswastriplethatoftheirLatinocounterpartsand27 timesthatoftheirwhitecounterparts(whohadbyfarthelowestviolationratesin thesample). HigherlevelsofeducationandproficiencyinEnglish(forimmigrants)wereeach associatedwithlowerminimumwageviolationrates.Thatsaid,evencollege educatedworkersandthosewhohadbeenwiththeiremployersforfiveormore yearswerestillatsignificantriskofaviolation. Twofactorshadasurprisinglyweakimpactonviolationrates:theworkersageand, forimmigrants,numberofyearsintheU.S. Incontrasttominimumwageviolations,overtime,offtheclock,andmealbreak violationsvariedlittleacrossthevariousdemographiccategories.
37
6. WageTheftinChicago
Inthisreport,wehavedocumentedthatviolationsofcoreemploymentandlaborlawsare pervasiveinChicagoandsuburbanCookCounty.Minimumwage,overtime,mealbreakand otherviolationsarenotconfinedtotheperipheryoftheeconomyortomarginalemployers. Onthecontrary,violationsareprevalentinkeyindustriesandoccupationsthatareattheheart ofChicagosregionaleconomy. Assessingtheroleofjobandworkercharacteristics Aswehaveseen,arangeofjobandworkercharacteristicsarecorrelatedwithworkplace violations.Furtheranalysis(seeAppendixAfordetails)revealsthatjobandworker characteristicshaveindependenteffectsontheviolationswehavedocumentedinthisreport. Bothmatter,buttheyarenotofequalimportance.Inthelowwageindustriesexaminedhere, jobandemployercharacteristicsarefarmorepowerfulpredictorsofviolationratesthanare workercharacteristicsespeciallywhenitcomestominimumwage,overtimeandmealbreak violations.Ourfindingssuggestthatemployersbusinessstrategiesshapetheirdecisionsabout whetherornottocomplywiththelaw. Thehighcostofworkplaceviolations Theextensiveviolationsofemploymentandlaborlawsdocumentedinthisreportdirectly impacttheearningsoflowwageworkers.Thevariousformsofnonpaymentand underpaymentofwagestakeaheavymonetarytollontheseworkersandtheirfamilies.For theworkersinoursamplewhoexperiencedapaybasedviolationinthepreviousweek,the averageamountoflostwageswas$50,outofaverageweeklyearningsof$322.Thatamounts towagetheftof16percent.Assumingafullyearworkschedule,weestimatethatthese workerslostanaverageof$2,595annuallyduetoworkplaceviolations,outoftotalannual earningsofjust$16,753. Furthermore,weestimatethatinagivenweek,approximately146,300workersinChicagoand suburbanCookCountyexperienceatleastonepaybasedviolation.Extrapolatingfromthis figure,frontlineworkersinlowwageindustrieslosemorethan$7.3millionperweekasa resultofemploymentandlaborlawviolations.Thelargestportionoftheselostwagesisdueto minimumwageviolations(71percent),followedbyovertimeviolations(16percent),andoff theclockviolations(9percent).
38
Wagetheftnotonlydepressesthealreadymeagerearningsoflowwageworkers,italso adverselyimpactstheircommunitiesandthelocaleconomiesofwhichtheyarepart.Low incomefamiliesspendthelargemajorityoftheirearningsonbasicnecessities,suchasfood, clothingandhousing.Theirexpenditurescirculatethroughlocaleconomies,supporting businessesandjobs.Wagetheftrobslocalcommunitiesofthisspending,andultimatelylimits economicgrowth.

Ramon and his son work in the construction industry. Last summer they worked for a contractor who offered an hourly rate of $25 to Ramon and $14 to his son. After the first two weeks of work, they received payment only after demanding it. However, the contractor refused to pay for the following two weeks of work. Ramon and his son are owed $3,550. This is not the only incident of wage theft that Ramon and his son have experienced. A few months later, they worked for a different employer who failed to pay them $800 for work completed. Both employers cited family illness as the reason for non-payment. We feel like thirsty people begging for water. We need that money so badly, says Ramon. Everything is so difficult these days; everything has been affected at home. We eat only because our daughter (who had to quit school) is working. They should not employ workers if they know that they are in a bad situation or cant pay [but] they know they can get away with it.
Jim works in the construction industry. He has been trying to recover wages for a job he completed last year. Although he worked from March through September, his employer refused to pay him for his last month of work. He was late for the first payment but then he was paying on time. It wasnt until the last month that he decided not to pay, comments Jim. I asked him to give me at least enough money to pay rent. The employer sent him a partial payment, only $500 out of $2,100 that he was owed. Jim has yet to recover the remaining $1,600. Jim filed a lawsuit against the employer and is waiting for a decision on the case. Jim is not optimistic that hell be able to recover the money and doesnt know what to do if the court doesnt help. This is not an isolated case (of wage theft). I hear stories from the workers everyday, says Jim. Jims two children, ages 3 and 13, live in the Ukraine with his parents. They rely on Jim and his wife, for financial help, but extra money is scarce these days. Because of his financial needs, Jim continues to go to a day labor corner everyday hoping to be picked up for work. Thats life. You dont know what is going to happen to you. One day you can fall of the ladder. I can only hope for the best, he says.
39
7. Strengtheningworkerprotections
ThisreportexposesaworldofworkinwhichthecoreprotectionsthatmanyAmericanstakefor grantedtherighttobepaidatleasttheminimumwage,therighttobepaidforovertime hours,therighttotakemealbreaks,accesstoworkerscompensationwheninjured,theright toadvocateforbetterworkingconditionsarefailingsignificantnumbersofworkers.The sheerbreadthoftheproblem,spanningkeyindustries,aswellasitsprofoundimpacton workers,entailingsignificanteconomichardship,demandsurgentattentionandaction. What,then,canbedone?Ourstartingpointisthateveryonehasastakeinaddressingthe problemofworkplaceviolations.Whenlowwageworkersandtheirfamiliesstrugglein povertyandfaceconstanteconomicinsecurity,thestrengthandresilienceoflocalcommunities suffers.Whenresponsibleemployersareforcedtocompetewithunscrupulousemployerswho violatecoreworkplacelawsbypayingsubminimumwagesorcostcuttingonworkersafety,the resultisaracetothebottomthatthreatenstobringdownstandardsthroughoutthelabor market.Andwhensignificantnumbersofworkersareillegallyunderpaid,taxrevenuesarelost tothewidercommunity. Inshort,publicpolicyhasafundamentalroletoplayinprotectingtherightsofworkers. Drawingonourownstudyaswellasresearchandpolicyanalysisbyotherorganizations workinginthisarea,wehaveidentifiedthreekeyprinciplesthatshoulddrivethedevelopment ofastrongpolicyagendaatthefederal,stateandlocallevels. 28 1.StrengthenGovernmentEnforcementofEmploymentandLaborLaws Governmentenforcementisthecornerstoneofanyviableresponsetoworkplaceviolations. Policymakersmustrecognizethesignificantresourcesthatresidewiththevariousagencies responsibleforenforcingwageandhour,healthandsafety,prevailingwage,anti discrimination,andrighttoorganizelaws.Tappingtheoftenunrealizedpotentialofthese agencieswillrequireadditionalfundingtoincreasestaffing,butevenmoreimportant,anew setofstrategiestoaddresstherealitythatworkplaceviolationsarebecomingstandardpractice inmanylowwageindustries. 29 Governmentenforcementagenciesshould: Movetowardproactive,investigationdrivenenforcementinlowwageindustries, ratherthansimplyreactingtocomplaints.Thismeansidentifyingindustrieswhere violationsaresystemic,conductingstrategic,repeatedandwellpublicizedworkplace
40
audits,andcrackingdownonemployerswhoarerepeatoffendersaswellasthosewho misclassifytheirworkers.Thegoalshouldbetosendindustrywidesignalsthatthe governmentwillpursueviolations,andthatthelikelihoodofinspectionistangible.Data suchasthosecontainedinthisreportontheindustriesandoccupationsmostatriskof violationscanhelpagenciesintargetingtheirproactiveenforcementefforts. 30 Increasethereachandeffectivenessofenforcementbypartneringwithimmigrant workercenters,laborunions,socialserviceproviders,legaladvocatesand,where possible,responsibleemployers. 31 Governmentalonewillneverhaveenoughstaffand resourcestomonitoreveryworkplaceinthecountryonaregularbasis.Community partnershipscanprovidethevitalinformationaboutwhereworkplaceviolationsare mostconcentrated,asexemplifiedbyrecentinnovativestatelevelcollaborationswith communityorganizations. 32 Restorefundinglevelsforenforcementagenciestoincreasethenumberof investigatorsandotherstaff.Between1980and2007,thenumberofinspectors enforcingfederalminimumwageandovertimelawsdeclinedby31percent,evenasthe laborforcegrewby52percent. 33Similarly,thebudgetoftheU.S.OccupationalSafety andHealthAdministrationhasbeencutby$25millioninrealdollartermsbetween 2001and2007;atitscurrentstaffingandinspectionlevels,itwouldtaketheagency133 yearstoinspecteachworkplacejustonce. 34 WhiletheU.SDepartmentofLaborhas recentlyaddedinvestigatorstaff,significantlymoreareneededtomatchthegrowthin thenumberofworkplacesthathasoccurredoverthepastseveraldecades.TheStateof Illinois,too,shouldincreaseitsfundingtotheIllinoisDepartmentofLaborsothatthe agencycanexpanditsenforcementeffortsinhighviolationindustries. Strengthenpenaltiesforviolations.Currently,penaltiesformanyworkplaceviolations aresomodestthattheyfailtodetermanyemployers.Forexample,thesavingsto employersfrompayingtheirworkerslessthantheminimumwageoftenoutweighsthe costs,evenforthosefewwhoareapprehended.Enforcementagenciesthereforeneed tofullypursueexistingpenaltiesforviolationsofwageandhourlaws,healthandsafety regulations,andotherestablishedlegalstandards.Butevenmoreimportant,those penaltiesrequiresignificantstrengtheningandupdating,tobetterensurecompliance andmoreeffectivedeterrence.
41
2.UpdateLegalStandardsforthe21stCenturyWorkplace Strongenforcementisimportant,butsoarestronglegalstandardsthatrecognizethechanging organizationofworkintheUnitedStates.Specifically,changesareneededonthreefronts: Strengthenlegalstandards.Thestrengthoflawsandthestrengthoftheirenforcement aredeeplyintertwined:weakemploymentandlaborlawssendthewrongsignal, openingthedoortolowroadbusinessstrategiestocutlaborcostsbyviolating employmentandlaborlaws.Whenthebarissettoolow,employershavelittleorno incentivetocomply.Raisingtheminimumwage,updatinghealthandsafetystandards, expandingovertimecoverage,andstrengtheningtherightofworkerstoorganize throughlaborlawreformallarekeyimprovementsthatwillraisecomplianceinthe workplaceandimprovethecompetitivepositionofemployerswhoplaybytherules. Closecoveragegaps.Someemployersexploithistoricalcoveragegapsthatexclude certaincategoriesofworkersfromprotection;thesegapsmustbeclosedonceandfor all.Forexample,homehealthcareanddomesticworkersarenotfullycoveredby employmentandlaborlaws. Holdemployersresponsiblefortheirworkers.Employmentandlaborlawsmustbe updatedwhenunscrupulousemployersdevisenewstrategiesforevadingtheirlegal obligationssuchasmisclassifyingworkersasindependentcontractorsand subcontractingworktoflybynightoperatorswhobreakthelaw.Theprincipleshould bethatemployersareresponsiblefortheworkplacestandardstheycontrol,whether directlyorindirectly. 3.EstablishEqualStatusforImmigrantsintheWorkplace Thebestinoculationagainstworkplaceviolationsisworkerswhoknowtheirrights,havefull statusunderthelawtoassertthem,haveaccesstosufficientlegalresources,anddonotfear exposureorretaliationwhenbringingclaimsagainsttheiremployers.Achievingthisisalwaysa substantialchallenge,butforunauthorizedimmigrantworkers,itcanbeanearimpossibility. Whileintheory,unauthorizedimmigrantsarecoveredbymostemploymentandlaborlaws,in practice,theyareeffectivelydisenfranchisedintheworkplace,bythelackoflegalstatus,fear ofdeportation,andthewillingnessofalltoomanyemployerstoexploittheirvulnerability.The resultisthehighprevalenceofworkplaceviolationsamongunauthorizedimmigrantsthatwe
42
documentinthisreport.Anypolicyinitiativetoreduceworkplaceviolationsmustthereforeact ontwofronts: Prioritizeequalprotectionandequalstatusinnationalimmigrationreform. Immigrationreformlegislationwithoutcloseattentiontolabormarketimpactsand workersrightsthreatenstopushmoreworkersintotheinformaleconomy,leadingto greaterinsecurityforimmigrantfamiliesandlesseconomicintegration.Aguiding principleforreformmustbethatimmigrantworkersreceiveequalprotectionandequal statusintheworkplace.Anyimmigrationreformthatcreatesasecondclassofworkers willonlyworsentheproblemsexposedinthisreport,ultimatelyhurtingallU.S.workers. Ensurestatusblindenforcementofemploymentandlaborlawsbymaintaininga strongfirewallbetweenworkplaceandimmigrationinspections.Agenciesenforcing minimumwage,prevailingwage,overtime,andotherworkplacelawscanandshould createafirewallbetweenthemselvesandimmigrationauthorities,sothatworkersdo notfeardeportationwhenbringingawageclaimorworkplacegrievance.Withoutthis protection,unauthorizedworkerswillbedrivenfurtherunderground,toofearfulto claimtheirrightstoworkplaceprotections.

Governmentenforcementisonlypartofthesolution.Justasimportantisthatpublicpolicy helpstofostertheeffortsofimmigrantworkercentersandunionstorepresentandorganize lowwageworkers,enhancesthecapacityoflegalservicesorganizationstosupportworkersin claimingtheirrights,andfacilitatestheeffortsofprivateattorneystoadvancestrategic litigation.Publicpoliciesalsoneedtosupportresponsibleemployers.Aboveall,strong,vibrant employmentandlaborlawsmustbeintegratedintothebroaderpolicyagendatorebuildgood jobsandeconomicopportunityin21stcenturyAmerica.
43
A group of six workers who performed electrical work for a single-room-occupancy hotel were denied wages for the hours they worked (both regular and overtime hours). The workers were owed back pay for between six to 13 weeks of work. The project they worked on included public financing. Not only were they underpaid, but the workers were also not provided proper health and safety information or training. In addition, the workers were told to report to city inspectors that they were unionized, when, in fact, they were not. The workers joined ARISE Chicago! (a worker center) and arranged a series of meetings with city and state officials as well as the projects general contractor. The workers' testimony, along with the assistance of ARISE Chicago!, pressured the contractor to pay the wages and they recovered over $21,000 in unpaid wages.
44
AppendixA:DataandMethods
Anexhaustive,indepthtechnicalreportdescribingthemethodsusedinthisstudyisavailable uponrequestfromtheauthors.Inthisappendixwegiveanontechnicaloverviewofour surveymethodology. Definingthesurveypopulation OurgoalinthisstudywastosurveyworkersinlowwageindustriesinCookCounty. 35 More precisely,inordertobeincludedinourstudy,workershadtobe: a. age18orolder,andcurrentlyworkingforanemployerwithinthelimitsofCook County(Chicago); b. frontlineworkers,i.e.notmanagers,professionalsortechnicalworkers(manyof thesegroupsarenotcoveredbykeylawssuchasthoseregardingminimumwage andovertime);and c. workinginalowwageindustryastheirprimaryjob. Todeterminewhichindustriestoincludeinoursamplinguniverse,weusedananalysisofthe 2006CurrentPopulationSurvey(CPS)conductedbytheCenterforEconomicPolicyResearch, toidentifythemedianhourlywageforallworkersage18orolderwhowerenotselfemployed. InChicagothemedianwas$14.85(in2006dollars).Wethendefinedlowwageindustriesas thosewhosemedianwageforfrontlineworkerswaslessthan85percentofthemedianwage, whichcorrespondedtoanhourlywageof$12.62(in2006dollars).This85percentthresholdis oneofseveralcommonlyusedmeasuresusedtoidentifylowwageindustriesorjobs. 36 ThesamplesizeusedintheCPSistoosmalltoallowestimatesofmedianwagesatthedetailed industrylevel.Wethereforeused2000Censusdatatogeneratealistofindustriesthatfell below85percentofthemedianhourlywage;theresultingindustryandoccupationdistribution foroursampleisshowninTable2.1. Samplingmethodology AsdescribedinSection2,standardsurveyingtechniques,suchasphoneinterviewsorCensus styledoortodoorinterviews,rarelyareabletofullycapturethepopulationthatwearemost interestedin:lowwageworkerswhomaybehardtoidentifyfromofficialdatabases,whomay bevulnerablebecauseoftheirimmigrationstatus,orwhoarereluctanttotakepartinasurvey becausetheyfearretaliationfromtheiremployers.Trustisalsoanissuewhenaskingforthe 45
detailsaboutaworkersjob,thewagestheyreceive,whethertheyarepaidoffthebooksor not,andtheirpersonalbackground. Inlightofthesedifficulties,weadoptedaninnovativesamplingmethodthatoperatesthrough respondentsownsocialnetworks.Alloftheworkersinthelowwageworkerpopulationhave friends,family,orcoworkersthattheycomeintoregularcontactwithandrelyonforsupport; thusourapproachreliedonasysteminwhichsurveyrespondentsrecruitedpeoplethey alreadyknewintothesurvey,arecruitmenttechniqueknownaschainreferralsampling.The bestknownsamplingmethodusingthisformofrecruitmentissnowballsampling,anapproach thatyieldsonlyconveniencesampleswhicharenotrepresentativeofthetargetpopulation. Snowballsamplingcannotreplicatethedesirablepropertiesofprobabilitysamplingmethods thatallowonetomakeinferencesaboutthepopulationbasedonsampledata.Thismethod thereforewouldnothavefulfilledtheaimsofourstudy.Toovercomethislimitation,we adoptedanewerformofchainreferralsampling,developedbycoauthorDouglasHeckathorn inthelate1990s. 37 Thismethodwassubsequentlyfurtherdevelopedincollaborationwith otherscholars.CalledRespondentDrivenSampling(RDS),itisbasedonamathematicalmodel ofthesocialnetworksthatconnectsurveyrespondents.Sincesomeindividualsorgroupstend tohavemoresocialconnectionsthanothers,theyaremorelikelytoberecruitedintoasurvey. TomaketheresultsofanRDSbasedsurveyrepresentativeofthewholepopulation(andnot justworkerswithlargesocialnetworks),weweightedourdatabasedonrespondentssocial networksizethatis,basedontheirprobabilityofbeingcapturedbyoursurveytechniqueas wellasotherfeaturesofthenetworkwhichcanaffectthesamplingprocess. Inaddition,RDSfeaturesanimportantdifferencefromsnowballandothertraditionalchain referralmethods:itemploysadualincentivestructure.Thisapproachinvolvescompensating respondentsnotonlyforthetimetheyspendrespondingtothesurvey,butalsoforeach eligiblepopulationmembertheyrecruitintothesample.Toincreasethebreadthofthesocial networkcapturedbythesample(andtopreventacottageindustryofsurveyrecruitment),the numberofrecruitmentsthateachrespondentcanmakeislimitedthroughacouponbased quotasystem. OurRDSsurveybeganwithaninitialsetofpopulationmemberstobesurveyed,whichwe locatedthroughourcontactsinCookCounty.Theseseedswerethengivenafixednumberof uniquelynumbereddollarbillsizedcouponstopassontoothereligiblepopulationmembers. Theserecruitsthenbroughtthecouponstooneofseveralsurveysites,wherethenumberon thecouponwasrecorded,therecruitwassurveyed,andthentherespondentwasgivenafixed numberofcouponswithwhichtorecruitotherworkers. 38 Thisprocesswasrepeatedovera 46
periodofseveralmonths,yieldinglargenumbersofrespondents(seeTableA.1).Asthe recruitmentprogressed,thesamplebecameincreasinglydiverse,eventuallybecoming independentoftheinitialsampleofseeds.

TableA.1:SummaryofSurveyFielding
Fieldingperiod Numberofsites Numberofinterviewers,translatorsand researchersonstaff Monetaryincentiveforbeingsurveyed
Chicago
JanuaryJune2008 6 18 $30
1,140
Numberofvalidsurveyscompleted Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey.
AnimportantpartoftheRDSmethodisclearlycommunicatingtorecruiterswhichtypesof workersareeligibleforthesurvey.Weconvertedthelistofindustriesbeingsampledinto simplejobtitlestouseascriteriaforrecruitmentintothesurvey.Thisinformationwas communicatedtorespondentswithflyersinmultiplelanguagesthatincludeddrawingsofthe targetjobsthatweredistributedtoallrecruitersalongwiththeircoupons.
Respondentdrivensamplinginthefield Theresearchteamidentifiedinterviewsitesthatwerewellrecognizedandwelcomingtolow wageworkers.Oursitesincludedspacesincommunitybasedorganizations,churches,anda universityspacesthatofferedprivacyandanonymitytoworkers.AsshowninTableA.1, ChicagoenteredthefieldinJanuary2008andexitedattheendofJune2008.Thiswasafirm deadlinesinceIllinoisincreaseditsstateminimumwageonJuly1,2008;wewantedtoavoid havingoursurveystraddleaminimumwageincrease,sincemanyofourcoreviolation measuresarelinkedtothatlegalstandard.Wecompleted1,140surveys. Poststratificationadjustmentstothedata OnefeatureoftheRDSmethodologyistheabilitytoconductdetailedtrackingofrecruitment patternsthroughouttheentiresamplingperiod,inordertoidentifyandadjustfordeviations frompurerandomrecruitmentfromrespondentssocialnetworks.Forexample,recruitment mightbedrivenbystrongsocialidentities,suchasrace,ethnicityorage,sothatrespondents recruitdisproportionatelywithintheirowngroup.TheRDSmethodologyanticipatesthat personalnetworksarenotrandomlydistributed,andthereforeadjustsforsmalltomoderate levelsofnetworkclustering(peoplehavingtiestootherslikethem),intheformofpost samplingweights.Forexample,ifthesamplecontainedmoremembersofagivengroupthan
47
wouldbeexpectedunderpurelyrandomsampling,thencasesinthatgrouparegivenless weightinanalysesofthedata.However,ifnetworkclusteringbecomespronouncedononeor moredimensions,thenitisnecessarytouseadditional,externalsourcesofdatainorderto weightthefinalsampletoberepresentativeoftheintendedpopulation. Inourstudy,weidentifiedhighlevelsofnonrandomrecruitmentamongseveralracial/ethnic groups,aswellasbetweenUSbornandforeignbornworkers.(Wedidnotfindhighlevelsof nonrandomrecruitmentonotherdimensions,suchastheworkersindustryandoccupation, employer,ormostimportant,theexperienceofworkplaceviolations).ThismeantthatRDS generatedrepresentativesampleswithinthevariousrace/ethnic/nativitygroups,butnot acrossthesamplinguniverseasawholeineffect,ourstudygeneratedmultiplesubsamples. Toaddressthisproblem,wegeneratedRDSviolationrateestimateswithineachofthesub samples(whicharerepresentative),andthenrecombinedthemusingaweightingsystembased onestimatesoftherelativesizesoftherace/ethnic/nativitygroupsinordertogeneratean overallestimate.Specifically,weadjustedthesampletomatchtheracial/ethnicandnativity distributionofthe2007AmericanCommunitySurvey(ACS),withonemodification. 39 Since standardgovernmentsurveystendtoundersampleunauthorizedimmigrants, 40 wedeveloped anadjustmenttotheACSrace/ethnicity/nativitydistributiondrawingonestimatesofthe numberofunauthorizedworkersinIllinoisin2005. 41 Theseadjustments,combinedwiththe successoftheRDSmethodologyincapturinghardtoreachpopulations,aredesignedtoensure thatoursampleisrepresentativeoffrontlineworkersinlowwageindustriesinChicagoand suburbanCookCounty.Suchpoststratificationadjustmentsarestandardincomplexsocial surveys;allsurveysaresubjecttosamplingerror,andthusarealmostuniversallyadjustedusing demographicdistributionsgeneratedbytheCensusorotherlargesurveys.Thisisamechanism toenabletheextrainformationavailableinsupplementarysurveys(inourcasetheACS)tobe incorporatedintheestimates,improvingaccuracy. InTableA.2,wesummarizeourestimatesofthenumberofworkersthatoursample representsapproximately310,205workers,orroughly25percentofthefrontlinelabor force,and12percentofallworkersinCookCounty.
TableA.2:CityProfile
Estimatednumberoffrontlineworkers inlowwageindustries Percentageofallfrontlineworkers Percentageofallworkers
Chicago
310,205 25.1 12.2
48
Modelingtheimpactofworkerandjobcharacteristicsonviolationrates InSection6,wediscussedtherelativeimportanceofjob/employercharacteristicscomparedto workercharacteristicsinaccountingfortheoverallvariationinworkplaceviolationrates.That discussionisbasedonaseriesoflogisticregressionmodelsweusedtoestimatetheeffectsof selectedindependentvariablesonminimumwage,overtime,offtheclock,andmealbreak violationrates.Specifically,weconsideredtwosetsofindependentvariables.Thejob characteristicsgroupconsistedofindustry,occupation,payarrangement,companysize, whetherornottheemployerwasatempagency,andwhetherornottheworkerbelongedtoa union.Theworkercharacteristicsgroupconsistedofgender,race,nativity,documentation status,education,age,jobtenure,andwhetherornottheworkerhadreceivedvocational training. Ourstrategywastoestimate(a)theuniquecontributionofthegroupofjobcharacteristics variables,aboveandbeyondtheimpactofworkercharacteristics,and(b)theunique contributionofthegroupofworkercharacteristicsvariables,aboveandbeyondthejob characteristics.Bothgroupsofvariablesweregenerallysignificant. 42 Butthestrengthoftheir impactdifferedsubstantially.Jobcharacteristicswere3.0timesstrongerthanworker characteristicsinpredictingminimumwageviolationrates;4.6timesstrongerinpredicting overtimeviolationrates;1.9timesstrongerinpredictingofftheclockviolationrates;and4.2 timesstrongerinpredictingmealbreakviolationrates. 43
49
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NewYorkJobswithJusticeandQueensCollegeLaborResourceCenter.2005.IsYourGourmet GroceryaSweatshop?AReportonWorkingConditionsatUpscaleGroceriesinNewYork City.NewYork:NewYorkJobswithJusticeandQueensCollegeLaborResourceCenter. Foundat:http://brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_9916.pdf. NewYorkTaxiWorkersAlliance.2003.AnAnalysisofTaxiIndustryFareandLeaseCap Proposals.NewYork:NewYorkTaxiWorkersAlliance. OrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment.1994.TheOECDJobsStudy: EvidenceandExplanations.Paris:OrganisationforEconomicCooperationand Development. .1996.OECDEmploymentOutlook:July1996.Paris:OrganisationforEconomicCooperation andDevelopment. RestaurantOpportunitiesCenterofNewYorkandtheNewYorkCityRestaurantIndustry Coalition.2005.BehindtheKitchenDoor:PervasiveInequalityinNewYorkCity'sThriving RestaurantIndustry.NewYork:RestaurantOpportunitiesCenterofNewYorkandNew YorkCityRestaurantIndustryCoalition. .2006.DiningOut,DiningHealthy:TheLinkBetweenPublicHealthandWorkingConditionsin NewYorkCity'sRestaurantIndustry.NewYork:RestaurantOpportunitiesCenterofNew YorkandtheNewYorkCityRestaurantIndustryCoalition. .2009.TheGreatServiceDivide:OccupationalSegregation&InequalityintheNewYorkCity RestaurantIndustry.NewYork:RestaurantOpportunitiesCenterofNewYorkandthe NewYorkCityRestaurantIndustryCoalition. Ruckelshaus,CatherineandBruceGoldstein.2002.FromOrchardstotheInternetConfronting ContingentWorkAbuse.NewYork:NationalEmploymentLawProjectandFarmworker JusticeFund.Foundat: http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/Immigration_Labor/ContingentDOCS/OrchardstoInt ernet.pdf. Ruckelshaus,Catherine.2008.Labor'sWageWar.FordhamUrbanLawJournal35(2):373 408. Salganik,MatthewJ.2006."Confidenceintervals,designeffects,andsamplesizecalculationfor respondentdrivensampling."JournalofUrbanHealth83:98111. SouthernPovertyLawCenter.2009.UnderSiege:LifeforLowIncomeLatinosintheSouth. Montgomery,Alabama:SouthernPovertyLawCenter.
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Theodore,Nik,AbelValenzuelaandEdwinMelndez.2006.LaEsquina(TheCorner):Day LaborersontheMarginsofNewYorksFormalEconomy.WorkingUSA9:407423. .2009.DefendingLaborStandardsforMigrantWorkersintheInformalEconomy. InternationalJournalofManpower,forthcoming. UnitedStatesBureauoftheCensus,AmericanCommunitySurvey.Foundat: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=enaccessedJuly31,2009. UnitedStatesDepartmentofLabor.2001.19992000ReportonLowWageInitiatives. Washington,D.C.:UnitedStatesDepartmentofLaborEmploymentStandards AdministrationWageandHourDivision. UnitedStatesDistrictCourt.2007.NoticeofRemoval,ArrezandAlonsovs.KellyServices,Inc. March7,2007. UnitedStatesDistrictCourt.2009.FinalApprovalOrder,ArrezandAlonsovs.KellyServices,Inc. October8,2009. UnitedStatesGeneralAccountabilityOffice.2006.EmploymentArrangements:Improved OutreachCouldHelpEnsureProperWorkerClassification.ReporttotheRanking MinorityMember,CommitteeonHealth,Education,Labor,andPensions,U.S.Senate. Washington,D.C.:UnitedStatesGeneralAccountabilityOffice. .2009.DepartmentofLabor:WageandHourDivisionNeedsImprovedInvestigativeProcesses andAbilitytoSuspendStatuteofLimitationstoBetterProtectWorkersAgainstWage Theft.Washington,D.C.:UnitedStatesGeneralAccountabilityOffice.Foundat: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09629.pdf. Valenzuela,Abel,NikTheodore,EdwinMelndezandAnaLuzGonzlez.2006.OntheCorner: DayLaborintheUnitedStates.LosAngeles:CenterfortheStudyofUrbanPoverty. Foundat:http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/csup/uploaded_files/Natl_DayLabor On_the_Corner1.pdf. Wial,Howard.1999.MinimumWageEnforcementandtheLowWageLaborMarket. Harrisburg,PA:KeystoneResearchCenter.Foundat: http://mitsloan.mit.edu/iwer/tfwial.pdf. Weil,David.2005.PublicEnforcement/PrivateMonitoring:EvaluatingaNewApproachto RegulatingtheMinimumWage.IndustrialandLaborRelationsReview58(2):238257. .2007.CraftingaProgressiveWorkplaceRegulatoryPolicy:WhyEnforcementMatters. Boston,MA:BostonUniversitySchoolofManagement:HarvardUniversityJohnF. KennedySchoolofGovernment.
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Weil,DavidandAmandaPyles.2005.WhyComplain?Complaints,Compliance,andthe ProblemofEnforcementintheU.S.Workplace.ComparativeLaborLawandPolicy Journal27(1):5992. .2007.ExploringtheComplaintsandComplianceGapUnderU.S.WorkplacePolicies. Proceedingsofthe2007AnnualMeetingsoftheLaborandEmploymentRelations Association.Foundat:http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/irra/proceedings2007/. WorkersDefenseProject.2009.BuildingAustin,BuildingInjustice:WorkingConditionsin AustinsConstructionIndustry.Austin,TX:WorkersDefenseProject.
55
Endnotes
UnitedStatesDistrictCourt(2007,2009).
2 3 4 5
IllinoisCircuitCourt(2009). AssociatedPress(2009,2010). GreenhouseandRosenbloom(2008).
Portionsofthisreportareadaptedfromthenationalreport.SeeBrokenLaws,Unprotected Workers:ViolationsofEmploymentandLaborLawsinAmericasCities,availableat http://www.unprotectedworkers.org.

6 7
Bernhardtetal.(2009).
SeeAsianAmericanLegalDefenseandEducationFundandYKASEC(2006),Bernhardtetal. (2008),Bernhardt,McGrathandDeFilippis(2007),Bobo(2008),CorderoGuzmn,Smithand Grosfoguel(2001),DomesticWorkersUnited&Datacenter(2006),FiscalPolicyInstitute(2007), Flaming,HaydamackandJoassart(2005),Gordon(2005),Greenhouse(2008),HaleandWills (2005),HondagneuSotelo(2001),LevinandGinsburg(2000),MaketheRoadbyWalkingand Retail,Wholesale,andDepartmentStoreUnion(2005),McGrath(2005),Mehtaetal.(2002), Milkman(2006),Ness(2005),NewYorkTaxiWorkersAlliance(2003),RestaurantOpportunities CenterofNewYorkandNewYorkCityRestaurantIndustryCoalition(2005,2006,2009), SouthernPovertyLawCenter(2009),Theodore,ValenzuelaandMelndez(2006),Valenzuelaet al.(2006),WeilandPyles(2005,2007),andWorkersDefenseProject(2009).
Respondentsselfidentifiedtheirrace/ethnicitytotheinterviewers,andcouldchoosemultiple races/ethnicities.AllrespondentswholistedLatino/Latinaincombinationwithother races/ethnicitieswerecodedasLatino/Latina;therefore,theremainingcategoriesareallnon Hispanic.Inaddition,becauseoursampleincludesonlysmallnumbersofPacificIslanders, AmericanIndians,NativeHawaiians,AlaskaNatives,andpeopleofmixedrace,weincluded thesegroups,alongwithselfidentifiedAsians,intheAsian/othercategoryshowninthe table.

9
Alloftheviolationratesreportedinthissectionarestatisticallysignificant,meaningtheyare significantlydifferentfromzero.IntheRDSmethod,thelevelofsignificanceisdetermined usingaspecialformofbootstrappingprocess(seeHeckathorn(2002)andSalganik(2006)). Employersarelegallyrequiredtopaytheirnonexemptworkersatleasttheminimumwage. Notallworkersarecovered,andsomeaspectsofcoveragevarybystate.Forexample,Illinois minimumwagelawexemptsdomesticworkers,buttheyarecoveredbythefederalminimum
10
56
wage.Formoredetailsonexemptionsfromtheminimumwage,seetheUnregulatedWork SurveyTechnicalReport(availableuponrequestfromtheauthors).
11
Nearlyeveryworkerwesurveyedwasatriskofaminimumwageviolation,withthe exceptionofchildcareworkerswhoworkintheirownhomes.
Ifworkersworkedmorethan40hoursinthepreviousweek,weaskedhowmuchtheywere paidforthosehours.Ifthestatedamountwaslessthantimeandahalftheirregularwage, theywerecountedashavinganovertimeviolation.Formoredetailsonthelawsgoverning overtime,seetheUnregulatedWorkSurveyTechnicalReport(availableuponrequestfromthe authors). Offtheclockworkcanbedefinedmorebroadlythanhowwehavedefinedithere,andcan happenduringthemiddleofaworkdaywhenworkersareinstructedtopunchoutbut continuetowork.Oursurveyonlycapturesofftheclockworkthatoccurredbeforeoraftera shift. Formoredetailsaboutdeductions,seetheUnregulatedWorkSurveyTechnicalReport (availableuponrequestfromtheauthors). Legalprotectionsvarydependingonthesubjectofaworkerscomplaintandwhetherthey complainedaloneorwithcoworkers.Formoredetailsaboutretaliationlawandourmeasures, seetheUnregulatedWorkSurveyTechnicalReport(availableuponrequestfromtheauthors).
16 15 14 13
12
Wedefinedaseriousinjuryasonethatneededmedicalattention,whetherornottheworker actuallyreceivedsuchattention. Formoreinformation,seetheUnregulatedWorkSurveyTechnicalReport(availableupon requestfromtheauthors).
17
Thismeasureincludesthefollowingviolations:minimumwage,tippedminimumwage, overtime,offtheclock,beingpaidintipsonly,illegaldeductionsandrestbreakviolations. Thisstudyisnotabletoprovideanaccurateestimateoftheimpactofunionizationonthe prevalenceofworkplaceviolations.Manyunionizedindustrieswereexcludedfromoursample becausetheyhadmedianwagesthatwerehigherthanourlowwagethreshold,andwere thereforenotincludedinoursamplefromtheoutset(seeAppendixAfordetailsonour samplinguniverse).Inaddition,thesmallnumberofunionizedworkerswhomadeitintoour samplewereconcentratedinaverysmallsetofindustries,whichresultedinaskewedindustry distribution.Therefore,anyanalysisofdifferencesinviolationratesbetweenunionizedand nonunionworkersinoursamplewouldyieldstatisticallybiasedresultsthatcouldnotbeused toinferconclusionsabouttheimpactofunionizationonworkplaceviolations.
20 19
18
Wheninterpretingestimatesinthetablesandgraphsinthissection,thereadershouldrefer tothetextforguidanceregardingwhichdifferencesarestatisticallysignificant.Inparticular,
57
thereadershouldbeawarethatdifferencesofafewpercentagepointsareverylikelynot statisticallysignificant,andinsteadmayresultfromstochasticvariationinthesamplingprocess. IntheRDSmethod,thelevelofsignificanceisdeterminedusingaspecialformofbootstrapping process(seeHeckathorn(2002)andSalganik(2006)).Asiscustomary,weinterpretdifferences inviolationratesbetweentwoormoregroupsorcategoriesasstatisticallysignificantwhenp 0.05.Insuchcases,theestimates95percentconfidenceintervalsfailtooverlap,aprocedure thatisequivalenttoaStudentsttest.ForFigures4.1,4.2,4.4,4.5,4.6,4.7,4.8and4.9,we onlyshowedresultsforindustriesandoccupationswhosesamplesizewasgreaterthanor equalto50. Inordertoobtainalargeenoughsamplesizeforanalysis,twoversionsoftheindustryand occupationvariableswerecreated.Alesscollapsedversionofthevariableswasusedinthe analysisofminimumwageandmealbreakviolationrates,forwhichwehadlargerrisksets.A morecollapsedversionofthevariableswasusedintheanalysisofovertimeandofftheclock violationrates,forwhichwehadsmallerrisksets. 22 SeeBernhardt,McGrathandDeFilippis(2007),HondagneuSotelo(2001),NewYorkJobswith JusticeandQueensCollegeLaborResourceCenter(2005),andValenzuelaetal.(2006). 23 Thecashcategoryalsoincludesthosepaidbypersonalcheckandthosepaidinbothcashand bycheck.Thecompanycheckcategoryalsoincludesthosepaidbydirectdeposit.Both categoriescontainsmallnumbersofworkerswhoreportedbeingpaidbyothermethods.
24 25 21
Forexample,seethedetailedindustryprofilesinBernhardt,McGrathandDeFilippis(2007).
Thisdifferenceisnotexplainedentirelybythepaytypesusedbythesefirms.Althoughsmall firmsaremorelikelytopaynonhourly,paytypeexplainsonlypartofthediscrepancybetween theviolationratesofsmallandlargefirms.
Wheninterpretingestimatesinthetablesandgraphsinthissection,thereadershouldrefer tothetextforguidanceregardingwhichdifferencesarestatisticallysignificant.Inparticular, thereadershouldbeawarethatdifferencesofafewpercentagepointsareverylikelynot significant,andinsteadmayresultfromstochasticvariationinthesamplingprocess.IntheRDS method,thelevelofsignificanceisdeterminedusingaspecialformofbootstrappingprocess (seeHeckathorn(2002)andSalganik(2006)).Asiscustomary,weinterpretdifferencesin violationratesbetweentwoormoregroupsorcategoriesasstatisticallysignificantwhenp 0.05.Insuchcases,theestimates95percentconfidenceintervalsfailtooverlap,aprocedure thatisequivalenttoaStudentsttest.

27
26
Thismaybepartlybecauseworkerswhodoadvanceinthelabormarketastheygetolder leaveoursamplinguniverse,whichonlyincludeslowwagejobs.However,inotherpartsofthe labormarket,ageisoftenagoodpredictorofbetteroutcomes,evenforworkerswhoremainin frontlineoccupationsfortheirentirecareers.
58
PiecesofthissectionareadaptedfromBernhardt,McGrathandDeFilippis(2007)and NationalEmploymentLawProject(2008).ItalsodrawsonRuckelshaus(2008).
29
28
Forindepthanalysesofpublicenforcement,seeWial(1999),Weil(2005,2007),andWeil andPyles(2005,2007).
Inaddition,agenciessuchastheU.S.DepartmentofLaborshouldinstituteannual compliancesurveysforthefullrangeoflowwageindustries.Suchsurveyswereconductedby theU.S.DepartmentofLaborinthelate1990s,testingforviolationsofminimumwageand overtimelaws,andstillconstitutesomeofthemostrobustdataavailable.Forexample,in 1999only35percentofapparelplantsinNewYorkCitywereincompliancewithwageand hourlaws;inChicago,only42percentofrestaurantswereincompliance;inLosAngeles,only 43percentofgrocerystoreswereincompliance;andnationally,only43percentofresidential careestablishmentswereincompliance(UnitedStatesDepartmentofLabor2001).

31
30
Forindepthanalysesofimmigrantworkercenters,seeFine(2006),Gordon(2005), JayaramanandNess(2005),Martin,MoralesandTheodore(2007),Ness(2005),Narro(2005, 2009),andTheodore,ValenzuelaandMelndez(2009). Inasimilarvein,governmentagenciesthatenforceworkersrightsneedtobettercoordinate theireffortstoachievemaximumimpact,giventhatunscrupulousemployersoftenviolate multiplelaws. NationalEmploymentLawProject(2008). TheAmericanFederationofLaborandCongressofIndustrialOrganizations(2007).
32
33 34 35
Wewrestledwiththequestionofwhetherornottoincludeindependentcontractorssuchas taxidriversandstreetvendorsinoursurvey.Intheendwedecidedtoconstrainthesampleto includeemployeesonly;openingthesamplingframetoanytypeofindependentcontractor wouldhavemadeitalmostimpossibletoconstructamanageablequestionnaire(thatis,one thatwouldworkforbothemployeeswithwageincome,aswellasindependentcontractors, whowewouldneedtoaskdetailedquestionsaboutbothbusinessincomeandcosts). However,wehopethatfuturesurveyswillfocusonlowwageindependentcontractors,suchas taxidriversandporttruckers,whoareeffectivelyinanemploymentrelationshipandwhose workingconditionsareverysimilartothepopulationofworkerswesurveyedhere. TheOrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopmenthasusedboththemeasureof 85percentofthemedianwage(OrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment 1994)andthemeasureoftwothirdsofthemedianwage(OrganisationforEconomicCo operationandDevelopment1996);seealsoFreemanandSchettkat(2000),whousetwothirds ofthemeanwage. Heckathorn(1997,2007).
36
37
59
38
Thenumberofcouponsgiventorespondentsvariedoverthecourseofthesurvey;on average,respondentsrecruitedtwootherworkersintothesample.
Theseadjustmentsweremadewithinmajoroccupationgroups,inordertoensureahigh levelofaccuracyintheweighting.
40
39
Forexample,seeHoefer,RytinaandBaker(2008),whoestimateanonimmigrantundercount rateof10percent.
Dataonthenumberandcharacteristicsofunauthorizedimmigrantsinourthreecitieswere generouslyprovidedbyJeffreyPasselofthePewCenterforHispanicResearch.
42
41
Theoneexceptionisthatworkercharacteristicsasagroupwerenotsignificantinpredicting overtimeviolations. Wemeasuredthesignificanceandthesizeoftheeffectofeachgroupofvariablesby recordingthechangeinthedeviancestatistic(2loglikelihoodmeasure)whenagroupof variableswasaddedintothemodels.Weassessedsignificanceatthe.05levelusingachi squaretest.Weassessedtherelativestrengthoftheeffectsofthetwogroupsofvariablesby formingtheratioofthechangeindeviance.Fullresultsareavailableuponrequestfromthe authors.
43
60
Center for Urban Economic Development University of Illinois at Chicago 400 S. Peoria St. (M/C 345) Chicago, IL 60607 312.996.6336 www.urbaneconomy.org
www.urbaneconomy.org.

Unregulated Work in Chicago: Breakdown of Workplace Protections

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Unregulated Work in Chicago: Breakdown of Workplace Protections

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Unregulated Work in Chicago

The Breakdown of Workplace Protections in the Low-Wage Labor Market

Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago

NationalAdvisoryCommittee EileenAppelbaum,RutgersUniversity JenniferGordon,FordhamLawSchool

Increasingly,itisclearthattherehasbeenabreakdownintheenforcementofcore employmentandlaborlawsintheUnitedStates.Thesearelawsthatmostofusconsider absoluteandinviolate,andthatdatebacktotheNewDeal.Employersmustpayworkersat leasttheminimumwage,andtimeandahalfforovertime.Theymustfollowregulationsto 1

Table2.1:CharacteristicsofWorkersinthe2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey,Chicagoand SuburbanCookCounty Percentofworkers

28.3 12.0 8.1 10.1 8.2

43.0 17.3 13.6 17.3 12.7

3.0 44.8 3.3 0.6

same same 43.9 4.6

45.2 28.7 22.9 16.9 4.2 2.0

same same same same same same

Figure3.2:NumberofHoursW orkedOvertime(Beyond40Hours)for W orkerswithanOvertimeViolation

afraidoflosingtheirjob,12percentwereafraidtheywouldhavetheirhoursorwagescut,and 36percentthoughtitwouldnotmakeanydifferenceiftheycomplained.Fearofretaliation andexpectationsofemployerindifference,then,figurestronglyinworkersdecisionsabout whetherornottomakeacomplaint.

100% 90% 80% 70%

Violation 60% Rate

57.3% 44.7% 39.9%

Employercutworkers' Employerthreatenedto hoursorpay,orgave fireworkersorcall worseworkassignments immigrationauthorities

Employerharassedor abusedworkers,or increasedworkload

Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedonlyforworkerswhohadexperiencedillegalretaliationformakingacomplaintororganizingaunionduringtheyearpreviousto thesurvey.Workerscouldreportmorethanonetypeofretaliation.

PayType PayMethod CompanySize

Violation 50% Rate

28.8% 24.8% 13.3%

Socialassistance,education, finance&healthcare Residentialconstruction, security,building&grounds services M anufacturing,transportation &warehousing

Figure4.5showsthatovertimeviolationratesarehighacrossalltheoccupationsinoursample, buttherealsoissubstantialvariationinviolationrates.Ratesareparticularlyhighforchildcare workersandteacherassistants,withaviolationrateoffully92percentamongthosewho workedmorethan40hoursduringthepreviousworkweek.

Residentialconstruction, security,building&grounds services

Personal&repairservices Security,building&grounds services Socialassistance&education 33.7%

Grocerystores Other(finance&otherhealth care) M anufacturing,transportation &warehousing

Table5.1:MinimumWageViolationRatesbyWorkerCharacteristics Percentofworkerswithviolations Allworkers U.S.born Foreignborn 25.5 20.3 30.8 Allrespondents

Overtimeviolations Overtimeviolationsvarymuchlessamongdemographicgroupsthandominimumwage violations.Forrespondentswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthe previousworkweek,theprevalenceofovertimeviolationsisveryhighacrossvirtuallyall demographicgroups,asTable5.2shows.

Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedmorethan40hoursforasingleemployerduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.

Offtheclockviolations Thepatternsforofftheclockviolationsaresimilartothoseforovertime,asTable5.3shows, withofftheclockviolationratesvaryinglittleacrossdemographicgroups.

Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhoworkedbeforeoraftertheirofficialshiftduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.

Source:Authors'analysisof2008UnregulatedWorkSurvey. *Calculatedasapercentofworkerswhowerelegallyentitledtoatleastonemealbreakduringthepreviousworkweek. N/Aindicatesthatthedatawereinsufficienttopermitreliableestimates.

periodofseveralmonths,yieldinglargenumbersofrespondents(seeTableA.1).Asthe recruitmentprogressed,thesamplebecameincreasinglydiverse,eventuallybecoming independentoftheinitialsampleofseeds.

Estimatednumberoffrontlineworkers inlowwageindustries Percentageofallfrontlineworkers Percentageofallworkers

IllinoisCircuitCourt(2009). AssociatedPress(2009,2010). GreenhouseandRosenbloom(2008).

Portionsofthisreportareadaptedfromthenationalreport.SeeBrokenLaws,Unprotected Workers:ViolationsofEmploymentandLaborLawsinAmericasCities,availableat http://www.unprotectedworkers.org.

Wedefinedaseriousinjuryasonethatneededmedicalattention,whetherornottheworker actuallyreceivedsuchattention. Formoreinformation,seetheUnregulatedWorkSurveyTechnicalReport(availableupon requestfromtheauthors).

Thisdifferenceisnotexplainedentirelybythepaytypesusedbythesefirms.Althoughsmall firmsaremorelikelytopaynonhourly,paytypeexplainsonlypartofthediscrepancybetween theviolationratesofsmallandlargefirms.

Thismaybepartlybecauseworkerswhodoadvanceinthelabormarketastheygetolder leaveoursamplinguniverse,whichonlyincludeslowwagejobs.However,inotherpartsofthe labormarket,ageisoftenagoodpredictorofbetteroutcomes,evenforworkerswhoremainin frontlineoccupationsfortheirentirecareers.

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