$6,875 Stolen, Wisconsin Worker Denied Overtime Pay After Years of Hard Labor

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This story is as interesting as wage theft stories get. In Middleton, Wisconsin, a man named Crescencio Albino worked really hard for so many years. He did hours of overtime for a company called Stone Concepts. They're a company that installs countertops. It's quite a job but even though he gave his time and energy, he was not paid the money he had earned.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development had to look into this man's case in particular. They found out after some investigations that the company owed Crescencio $6,875 in unpaid overtime wages. This money was supposed to be paid to him for the extra hours he worked in the company but for some reason, he was denied of that.

It's actually a law there, that when a person works more than 40 hours in a week, they must get paid time and a half but in this case, Crescencio never got that extra pay.

Some might think this is not the worst thing to ever happen but that extra pay is bills he could have paid and would have had a better life for all that extra work. This is definitely wage theft. It happens when a boss takes the work of an employee but does not give the money that belongs to that worker, even if it's a single dollar, since they put in the work, they deserve the pay.

Crescencio noticed it and didn't keep silent about it and I believe if you're in a situation like that, you should absolutely hold the boss accountable since they would not hesitate to hold you accountable for your responsibilities at the work place.

There's a saying, work hard, play hard, but in this case, the Boss made the worker work hard and no play time, that is the earning due him.

Crescencio worked with Worker Justice Wisconsin which is a group established to help protect workers from unfair treatment. This group was able to organize a protest outside the Stone Concepts office in Middleton. They wanted to make sure the public knew about what happened. Things like this must be publicized, if not, more injustice to workers will continue.

Their intentions was not to paint the company or boss in a bad light but to hold them responsible.

The protest the group had was not only for Crescencio, it was also for many other workers who suffer from wage theft. Worker Justice Wisconsin said this is a common problem and I believe most workers around the world especially those in the wage earning category can attest to it.

Many workers in construction, restaurants, cleaning and other jobs lose their wages because their bosses do not follow the law. And it's also because the law will not come for them when they break it. Government is busy making policies that'll bring more power and money to themselves rather than paying attention to such stories. Most of the giant Media companies that are in a way controlled by the government will never bring such stories up because it'll raise questions about laws and enforcements.

It's really sad because in situations like this, many workers stay quiet until they get some organization or team that is willing to help them and to stand with them for fairness. The reason a lot of workers keep quite even though they're being mistreated is mostly from the fear of losing their jobs.

Like the article I shared yesterday regarding the connection between immigration status and the confidence for a worker to complain, it's all founded and rooted in fear of the worst happening if they stand up to fight for their rights.

The government already agreed that he is owed $6,875. It may not be a lot of money to some people but to most and to a single individual that's a lot of money that could do so much. If not anything, it could pay for food, rent or help his family. He could have someone sick or himself be sick and that money would be enough to save the situation, so being denied of this is not something to take lightly at all.

When a worker is not paid equal to their work, it is like stealing their life hours, because time and labor were given but no fair pay was returned.

I'm not only looking at the theft but from this story it also shows exactly why groups like Worker Justice Wisconsin are so important and policies should be made to encourage these groups and not to silence them.

Without organizations and protection groups like these, many workers would be alone. When they make a protest, they send a message to other employers. If you steal from workers, the community will know, the government will come for you and that message will help hold bosses accountable and make workers work in complete and absolute fairness.

If you're not in the working class you would undermine the impact of wage theft because it's not directly affecting you but wage theft is not a small problem. In fact, across the United States, some studies show workers in general lose billions of dollars every year from wage theft. So the billionaires and millionaires have some portion of their wealth that should have gone into wages and salary of workers.

This is bigger than shoplifting or many other types of theft but because it happens to poor and working class people, it does not always get the attention it should get.

It's a simple thing, when a worker is not paid fairly or not paid at all in some people's case, they are mistreated. No worker should ever beg for the money they already earned. No family should suffer because a company decided to ignore labor laws.

The law in Wisconsin is clear about this, overtime must be paid at time and a half. This man worked, gave his hours and the company basically failed him. At least for him, the truth is now out there and the number is very clear, $6,875 so they have to pay up or face the law, as it should be. That money technically represents his stolen labor, his stolen time and his stolen respect.

Screenshot of the group taken from this website