Wage Theft as Crime: An Institutional View

16 Pages Posted: 10 Apr 2020 Last revised: 19 Feb 2021

Date Written: March 21, 2020

Abstract

This essay argues that criminalizing “wage theft” fulfills a movement demand. However, because criminal law has historically been used by employers and governments against workers, using it for the cause of workers requires careful deliberation. Moreover, as the prison abolition movement has correctly noted, the United States over-imprisons its own citizens, mostly out of racial animosities and biases, so any use of the criminal justice system to protect workers appears anathema. Nevertheless, this essay argues for wage theft criminalization, but only as long as it is accompanied by the creation of specialized prosecutors and police who handle work law matters exclusively, collaborate with the traditional labor and employment law agencies, and cooperate with workers and their advocates to investigate and prosecute wage theft cases. The need to criminalize wage theft, as well as how to do it, is thus an institutional question.

Keywords: wage theft, theft of services, prison abolition, employment law, labor law

Suggested Citation

Rosado Marzán, César F., Wage Theft as Crime: An Institutional View (March 21, 2020). 20 Journal of Law & Society 300 (2020), U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2021-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3558726 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3558726

César F. Rosado Marzán (Contact Author)

University of Iowa College of Law ( email )

Melrose and Byington
Iowa City, IA 52242
United States

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