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37 Yale L. & Pol'y Rev. 93 (2018-2019)
The Problem of Wage Theft

handle is hein.journals/yalpr37 and id is 105 raw text is: YALE LAW & POLICY REVIEW The Problem of Wage Theft Nicole Hallett Wage theft inflicts serious harm on America's working poor but has received little attention from policymakers seeking to address income inequality in the United States. This Article provides a comprehensive analysis of the causes of the wage theft crisis and the failure of the current enforcement regime to address it It argues that existing policy reforms will fail, because they misunderstand the nature of the crisis and the incentives that employers face when deciding to steal workers' wages. It then proposes series of reforms that could work, while arguing that changing the economic calculus alone will be unlikely to solve the problem ifsocial norms remain unchanged. IN TRO D U CT IO N ......................................................................................................................... 9 4 I. THE W AGE THEFT CRISIS ........................................................................................ 98 II. W HAT EXPLAINS THE W AGE THEFT CRISIS .............................................................103 III. EXISTING POLICY R EFORM S ......................................................................................... 113 A. Local W age Theft Laws.................................................................................. 114 B. Wage Theft La wsEffectiveness................................................................117 IV. THE M ISSING PIECE: ENFORCEMENT......................................................................... 121 A. Targeted Enforcem ent...................................................................................124 B. Improved Complaint Process...................................................................... 127 C Utilization ofAll Enforcement Tools........................................................134 D. Recovery-First Enforcem ent.......................................................................136 E Diffuse Enforcem ent.......................................................................................138 * Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, University at Buffalo School of Law, the State University of New York. Director of the Community Justice Clinic and U.S.-Mexico Border Clinic. J.D., Yale Law School. 93