New Report Details Stolen Wages in New Brunswick

Flor Sanchez worked in a New Brunswick kitchen for 12 years, cooking and cleaning, sending deliveries, and doing, in her words, "a little of everything."

She worked six to seven days a week, her hours reaching into the double digits each day. She was paid about $300 per week.

That is, until her employer abruptly closed the restaurant, sent Sanchez home and she told her she would call. She never did, Sanchez said.

A search for the employer turned up nothing, and Sanchez, seeking the remainder of the wages she was owed, went to New Labor for help.

"They weren't paying me as they should have been" she said.

After coordinating her efforts with the nonprofit labor advocacy group, a claim was filed with the state Department of Labor, resulting in a settlement of $7,000, said Bryan Nelson, of New Labor.

Sanchez's situation is what is known as "wage theft" meaning workers are not being paid accordingly for the time they're putting in on the jobs they are doing.

Sanchez is not an isolated case. A new report, issued by New Labor and the Unity Square Partnership suggests that wage theft is a problem in New Brunswick among Hispanic neighborhoods, especially for undocumented workers.

For the report, Unity square and New Labor surveyed residents in the Second Ward neighborhood near Unity Square, collecting 205 responses. Of those people surveyed, 16.1 percent reported having experienced wage theft in the past two years.

That works out to be about 1 in 6 households, according to the data.

"The average total quantity of wages stolen per incidence of wage theft amounted to $864.00. This sum is the equivalent of three weeks of fulltime work for someone earning the minimum wage, or two weeks of fulltime work for someone earning and hourly rate of $11," the report said.

According to the report, the fields of work that wage theft was most often seen in from the survey respondents was restaurants, construction and landscaping and construction.

Sanchez will receive the $7,000 she is owed in monthly installments. The money is only two year's worth of wages she is owed, because of the statute of limitations on claims, Nelson said.

Separately from the report, New Labor actively pursues lost wages on behalf of the people who come to them for assistance and in the past year and a half, have recovered $180,000 in owed wages, according to the report.

"It's just scratching the surface," Nelson said.

It's a tough topic to address. 

Many people who aren't being paid enough don't report it for fear of losing their jobs. They also remain silent because they may be undocumented. 

Status doesn't matter, New Labor says. A worker is entitled to their full pay, no matter what their status.

"It's theft. There's no two ways about it," said Craig Garcia of New Labor. 

New Labor and Unity Square plan on taking the findings of the report to the neighborhoods to educate residents on wage theft and assist more people, if possible.

They will have a table at Tuesday's National Night Out observance at Feaster Park, and have a network of people like Sanchez who serve as an example for workers who are afraid to speak up to claim what they are owed.