The state as a whole has backed higher wages, approving a proposition to raise the state’s minimum to $12 by 2020 last year. In fact, wage theft runs rampant across the restaurant industry, as well as retail and other low-paying service jobs. The Economic Policy Institute in 2014calculated that wage theft cost Americans as much as $50 billion every year. After passage of a significantly higher minimum wage last year, Governor Cuomo followed up with a 200-person task force to ensure wages are being paid. The Department of Labor sets standards for wage enforcement around the country and is the front-line agency for filing many wage theft cases.

Source: Huffington Post February 06, 2017 14:13 UTC