Value of wage theft* compared with value of combined bank, gas station, and convenience store robberies, 2008–2009
| Source | Total value |
|---|---|
| Robberies, 2009 | $56,950,000 |
| Wage theft, 2008 | $185,287,827 |
* Value of back wages illegally withheld by employers recovered by U.S. Department of Labor in 2008
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: 2008 Statistics Fact Sheet, December 2008; U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012, “Table 321, Robbery and Property Crimes by Type and Average Value Lost: 1990 to 2009”; U.S. Department of Justice, Uniform Crime Reports [Return A and Supplement to Return A Master Files], various years; Annette Bernhardt, Ruth Milkman, Nik Theodore, Douglas Heckathorn, Mirabai Auer, James DeFilippis, Ana Luz González, Victor Narro, Jason Perelshteyn, Diana Polson, and Michael Spiller, Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violation of Employment and Labor Laws in America’s Cities, National Employment Law Project, 2009