Retail Worker Exploitation

Retail workers seem to be exploited more and more these days. Various retailers, such as Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes have been sued all around the country for the same types of issues – wage and hour violations. While there does not appear to be any large judgments against these types of companies, employees are collecting back wages through settlements at a record pace. Let’s take the above-mentioned employers out of the picture, and ask the question, “Why are retail employees being taken advantage of on a daily basis, especially since their wages are so modest to begin with?”

Simple economics shows that there is a high demand for employment, and workers are plentiful. This makes it harder for abused workers to speak up about their pay discrepancies. They fear that if one mistake is made, their jobs will go to the next applicant in line. And why wouldn’t they feel this way? Workers are out there just trying to support themselves and their families. If they complain about not receiving their owed wages, the monopolistic companies will send them away with a pink slip and no supper.

Today, most families in America are less than one paycheck away from going broke. Not paying their rents. Not paying their mortgages. Not able to buy groceries. Sadly, many of these cut-throat retailers don’t care.

They don’t care how you pay for food, medical or housing. They only care about their bottom lines. By coercing you into working one hour off the clock, instead of spending that time with your family, or God forbid pay you, they add an extra $11 to their bottom line. But, that extra hour is supposedly your tax for keeping your job. I thought that type of abuse was taken care of after the Great Depression, when this country decided that working standards were a necessary part of human rights?