American Journal of Public Health
Volume 104, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 1010-1020

Wage theft as a neglected public health problem: An overview and case study from san francisco's chinatown district (Article)

Minkler M.* , Salvatore A.L. , Chang C. , Gaydos M. , Liu S.S. , Lee P.T. , Tom A. , Bhatia R. , Krause N.
  • a Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, United States
  • b Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States
  • c Labor Occupational Health Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley CA, United States
  • d Program on Health, Equity, and Sustainability, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, United States
  • e Chinese Progressive Association, San Francisco, United States
  • f Labor Occupational Health Program, United States
  • g Chinese Progressive Association, San Francisco, United States
  • h San Francisco Department of Public Health, Niklas Krause Was with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, United States
  • i San Francisco Department of Public Health, Niklas Krause Was with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, United States

Abstract

Wage theft, or nonpayment of wages to which workers are legally entitled, is a major contributor to low income, which in turn has adverse health effects. We describe a participatory research study of wage theft among immigrant Chinatown restaurant workers. We conducted surveys of 433 workers, and developed and used a health department observational tool in 106 restaurants. Close to 60% of workers reported 1 or more forms of wage theft (e.g., receiving less than minimum wage [50%], no overtime pay [> 65%], and pay deductions when sick [42%]). Almost two thirds of restaurants lacked required minimum wage law signage. We discuss the dissemination and use of findings to help secure and enforce a wage theft ordinance, along with implications for practice.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

China human theft middle aged statistics Salaries and Fringe Benefits ethnology San Francisco salary and fringe benefit catering service United States Young Adult Humans migrant male Restaurants Emigrants and Immigrants female Article manpower adult legal aspect participatory research Community-Based Participatory Research public health
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84901045022&doi=10.2105%2fAJPH.2013.301813&partnerID=40&md5=0ffd8f28ce58a0a0986e9eacd75bf156
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301813
ISSN: 00900036
Cited by: 17
Original Language: English