7-Eleven wage theft scandal continues

In the latest development in the 7-Eleven wage theft scandal, a former franchisee has been found to have underpaid eight workers $19,937, including one worker who was underpaid a staggering $14,000 over two years.

Wage theft has become a business model because even employers who are caught are only required to pay back the stolen wages.

"There can be no denying that wage theft is a systemic issue. We know that the rules are broken for workers when they do not even receive the amount of pay they are legally entitled to.

•˛Unions have been prevented from examining pay records to ensure that employers are obeying the law.

•˛Too many workers are in insecure work and can˙t risk standing up for what they are legally owed.

•˛The process that workers have to go through to lodge a complaint is extremely complex and rarely results in any punishment for the employer.

•˛The system is broken when theft by corporations goes unpunished. We need to change the rules to end wage theft.

ENDS