Wage theft is a pervasive problem facing workers throughout the US. According to a 2014 report by the Economic Policy Institute, workers lose over $50bn a year to wage theft from employers. Wage theft includes tactics from stiffing workers on pay, failing to properly pay workers for overtime, minimum wage violations, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and not providing workers with mandated break times.
The Guardian
February 16, 2024
A 2014 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that wage theft costs U.S. workers more than $50 billion each year.
Orlando Weekly
February 16, 2024
A 2015 paper by the Economic Policy Institute found that wages are 3.1 percent lower in “right-to-work” states than ones without the law, representing a roughly $1,558 drop in wages for a typical full-time worker in a “right-to-work” state.
Truthout
February 16, 2024
Thirty-four states also have minimum wage exemptions for youth, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Next City
February 16, 2024
A 2022 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that average weekly wagers for teachers have remained “relatively flat” since 1996, with teachers making more than 14% less in Ohio when compared with other college-educated workers.
News 5 Cleveland
February 16, 2024
The Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, called the bill “dangerous” and pointed to recent safety violations uncovered by the U.S. Department of Labor, including the case of a 13-year-old working at a landscaping supplier, who was found to be operating a forklift, and a 15-year-old working for a roofing contractor, who sustained severe head and spinal injuries after falling from a roof. Both incidents happened in Florida.
“Proposals to extend teens’ work hours fly in the face of decades of research documenting that excessive work hours jeopardize teen health, development, and safety on the job,” EPI wrote in a September blog post on the proposal.
HR Dive
February 16, 2024
Opponents say such laws weaken unions’ ability to secure better wages, benefits and working conditions for workers. According to an analysis by the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute, wages in “right-to-work” states are more than 3% lower than in non-“right-to-work” states, “even after controlling for a full set of worker characteristics and state labor market conditions.”
Construction Dive
February 16, 2024
Judge explained that most salaries are deflated in value due to the “productivity-pay gap.” She cited the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) explanation of this phenomenon: it’s the difference between the growth of the economy (“productivity”) and workers’ wages (“pay”).
EPI discovered that there is indeed a massive productivity-pay gap in the U.S.: hourly pay has increased by 14.8% from 1979 to 2022, whereas productivity has increased by a whopping 64.7% — more than four times as much as hourly pay.
MoneyWise
February 16, 2024
While many minimum wage workers are unskilled teens, the vast majority of workers who benefit from minimum wage hikes are over the age of 20, according to research by the Economic Policy Institute.
Christian Science Monitor
February 16, 2024
“I’m not particularly concerned,” says Elise Gould, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
If economists aren’t panicked, it means you probably shouldn’t be either. Unless, of course, you’re in one of the sectors that’s seen an uptick.
NerdWallet
February 16, 2024