Rebecca Galemba: How employers steal from workers -- and get away with it | TED

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When you work, you expect to be paid for it. Except, for millions of Americans employed across a range of industries like restaurants and construction, that's not always the case. Anthropologist Rebecca Galemba explores the multibillion-dollar problem of wage theft and how employers get away with it, highlighting the changes needed for them to pay up -- and fairly.
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20 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 163

@ajo7009 2 года назад

Wage theft is also when artists are not paid for their work and are told that they will be payed with exposure.

@ProfessorJayTee 2 года назад

But it's such a "GREAT OPPORTUNITY" and a way to "GET YOUR NAME KNOWN!" Yeah. Anybody asking entertainers to work for free deserves to get entertainers who are worth exactly zero. Don't perform for free. If you get rewarded with something besides money that you consider valuable, that may be a different story. Once I ASKED a manager to perform at a lovely venue for "free," *provided* that I could record the performance from multiple angles, say I performed for them, and use those performance videos for unlimited marketing purposes. But them offering you "OPPORTUNITY" and "EXPOSURE" is just a scam to get free entertainment.

@DawnDavidson 2 года назад

As one of my musician friends says: “People DIE of exposure….”!

@ajo7009 2 года назад

@@DawnDavidson I'll remember to say that when someone asks me to work for "exposure". 🤣 Thank you for the idea!

@oneworldonehome 2 года назад

"The power and presence of Knowledge will be instrumental in guiding humanity towards maintaining its freedom and its self-sufficiency. It is the counterpoint to the greed, to the corruption, to the oppression and to the abuse that are so rampant throughout human societies and cultures. The quest for wealth, the quest for power, the quest for beauty, the quest for control-these are the obsessions that dominate the mind, but not only the mind of humanity. They are what dominate the minds of all beings living in the physical universe." A quote from *Life in the Universe* - a free online book by Marshall Vian Summers.

@johnchapman5125 2 года назад

Thank you, Ivan.

@julieann1975 2 года назад

Thank you

@alexmeyjes5533 2 года назад

As someone who grew up in a Nation ( the Netherlands) supporting strong unions, in order to protect those with the least individual power , I cry for the terrible road backwards the Western World, especially the USA , has taken since the 1980's AND the 1990's . We seem to honor competition so much, that those less capable are simply ignored and swept aside in the name of progress . WE should be ashamed of ourselves

@alexandermcisaac 2 года назад

I experienced this in Canada myself

@jiteshsharma7642 2 года назад

@@alexandermcisaac then how you managed things any solution you got?

@soulgamerman 2 года назад

Some people take evidence and make a claim for a lawsuit. This usually takes years and is hard to follow through with.

@user-bg3wo2mz7s 2 года назад

The most powerful enemy of western world, Soviet Union, collapsed since 1990s, then those capitalism governments would never care the rights of their people.

@alexmeyjes5533 2 года назад

@@jiteshsharma7642 I have no solution ... not smart enough I guess. I will say though that our leaders (regardless of country) are the ones who have the power and access to knowledge that would permit them to do much much better , AND THEY DONT

@suicune2001 2 года назад

Something like this happened to one of my friends. They were hired and worked MAYBE a whole month before the company up and left the state and broke all contact with him. But since they never officially fired or laid him off, he couldn't get any kind of unemployment. Thankfully, I think he got paid but he said that company routinely hires fresh new and inexperienced people as independent contractors, work them for a week, then fire them without ever paying them for the work.

@homewall744 2 года назад

Hope their bad reputation spreads and government enforces the contracts they engaged in. Criminal behavior is rarely a concern for government that makes everything related to simple justice too expensive and slow to be useful.

@suicune2001 2 года назад

@@homewall744 Same. I don't know how they have ANY workers at all like that. Even if you're getting paid, you would also be worrying about what the company might do to YOU next. He got off easy since he at least got paid but I think it was a near thing. I think the manager or whoever liked him enough to pay him. If I were those people, i'd be online crapping all over that company and trying my best to make sure everyone knows that company is shady AF.

@nerdlingeeksly5192 2 года назад

How has the company not been investigated by the BBB and the owner arrested, if you know the name of the company you should report them. And if you or your buddy knows the full names of some of the top guys then include that in the report as it will make it easier to track them down.

@suicune2001 2 года назад

@@nerdlingeeksly5192 He doesn't seem to want to tell me the name of the company. I told him he should report them but he's a very non-confrontational type of dude who doesn't want to get them in trouble. Even though they are doing highly illegal things and basically abandoned him with a mess THEY made.

@AD-wm5ju 2 года назад

These employers are true deplorables.

@silentbob7984 2 года назад

It appears that accountability is a problem. The system does nothing to correct it. But if the employee has exhausted their options and turns to violence he or she is the bad guy. I believe the term is disgruntled. Great system.

@kulturfreund6631 2 года назад

In 1996 when construction in Berlin began to boom workers, architects and companies from other EU countries flew in to participate. I heard of English workers who hadn't got paid for their dry-walling job and so they just demolished what they had built. 😆 🤗

@donnahaynes8766 2 года назад

part of the problem is that only illegal workers are ever held "accountable". Employers who hire illegal immigrants are NOT charged when they clearly are in violation of the law. Charge the shady employers and some of this will disappear.

@samikshashinde7876 2 года назад

What about unpaid internships?

@thebackchannel1641 2 года назад

Wage theft is also when the boss tells HR to give you an increase of $X and somehow this good news never reaches you, and the HR person gives your increase to themselves. It happened to me.

@gasdive 2 года назад

Owner told manager to give me a raise. Didn't happen until one day months later I raised the issue with the owner. The manager was there and the owner asked if I'd been paid the promised amount. After hearing from the manager that he hadn't paid the right wage, (the manager had a bonus based on profit) the owner pulled out his wallet, took out a giant wad of cash and handed it to me.

@DawnDavidson 2 года назад

Wow. That is really low.

@Maxxomatik 2 года назад

the problem is a leak of information. if an employer works like that and everybody knew it, the problem would solve itself in no time. so. Thank you Rebecca Galemba for bringing this up.

@TheFuckingsignups 2 года назад

they need to move the teleprompter or camera to her left

@BigWoollyMammoth 2 года назад

Yeah. This was pretty painful to watch.

@3rdEyeGnostic 2 года назад

Individual states need to become more involved in ensuring people receive their due pay. Utah doesn't implement laws to ensure benefits like pto are paid out during or upon leaving.

@homewall744 2 года назад

And what of workers who aren't working every hour they want to be paid for? This sort of trickery isn't limited to one side.

@TokenSelf 2 года назад

Never gonna happen. As long as states have to "compete" with each other to win over businesses and the associated jobs & tax revenue. You might see some protections at the federal level, but even for that much you'd have to beat massive corporate lobbies and the supreme court.

@Orpilorp 2 года назад

Whew! Thanks for clearing my conscience for having gotten away with "putting in" 40 hours per week while actually working no more than 25 hrs per week, and doing this for 5 years as a salaried manager before retiring with a nice going away party.

@joelovando69 2 года назад

Thank you for speaking on behalf of the marginalized!

@bloodman10 2 года назад

Construction labours in Middle east face a lot of wage theft.

@helenewebster9462 2 года назад

Thank you❗

@halo5557 2 года назад

Thank you

@seemajohney6081 2 года назад

Not only in the us its all over the world today

@fanaticforager6610 2 года назад

National Geographic has yet to showcase the worst of opportunistic predators, for they are consistently behind the camera 📸 👁‍🗨

@helenewebster9462 2 года назад

At Polo Ralph Lauren and another Furniture High End Furniture Store I was a victim of Wage Thief, forced to work. Positions but paid for 1. Forced to give up ups to other Design Consultants, Not paid for House Visits, Assignef 2 different ID # so my commis3 stolen by Store Manager, Forced to use Manager Blyth Stephenson ID # to ring up sales; but she defrauded me of my commision, illegal Charge backs@ PRL, Commission Fraud, Nepotism Fraud, Forced to work 2 weeks in a row without days off @ PRL, Forced to work without breaks nor lunch @ PRL, ORDEDRED NOT TO check my sales in system, Personal Sales cause our store to be #1 in company wide; but was DEFRAUDED of Commission and Prizes.

@massey4business 2 года назад

Seems to happen more at high end stores/companies. I have a friend in the car sales world who worked for Mercedes Benz of Beverly Hills about 5 years ago and had it happen to him.

@Psi105 2 года назад

Bounced cheque fee? Why is the person banking the cheque paying that in USA??

@andersemanuel 2 года назад

Could the problem relate to having an open border? Not Promoting law and order? Feeling sorry for people instead of keeping a system protecting them?

@andersemanuel 2 года назад

@@Dimitris_Half I think most people consider stealing is not OK. But could the problem increase with having massive amounts of people coming in relying on day labor? Defunding the police? Any Idea, except whining about it?

@andersemanuel 2 года назад

@@Dimitris_Half I believe nobody wants to work in day labor. It’s a primitive system that keeps the poor poor and exploits people. But I might be wrong.

@andersemanuel 2 года назад

@@Dimitris_Half Maybe. I like labor unions run by laborers. Unfortunately they often end up just protecting the people running them. The transparency and democracy process must be strong. I fully agree that the legislation and enforcement part must be in place. The problem is not the bad people. It's the good people looking the other way not wanting to see the problem. Too many in comfy mode.

@MashBell 2 года назад

Either I’m seeing the future or this is a repost.

@johnwishart7950 2 года назад

i think the USA promises lots and gives very little the system should be a national government law and to stop paying skilled people that have learnt there skills in other countries i costs a lot to train a doctor nurse or other job and surely the government where the skilled person comes from would not have bothered training someone to work elsewhere

@nawatlsol 2 года назад

Those who take advantage of illegal immigrants are the lowest type human there is. These type of human would own slaves if yet socially acceptable, subhuman.

@miguelsuarez-solis5027 2 года назад

Sounds like day laborers should mob up and start breaking legs

@MaybeYoureRight-1234 2 года назад

😀 👍 TED | yes👍👍 and maybe you're right 👍. Yes 👍👍 😀 👍 # Cop 26 SAVE OUR PLANET 🌏🌍🌎! 👍 '' we are talked a lot about, but we are not listened to '' -why? Thank you.

@greipfrutik 2 года назад

I think also when we actually making our daily groceries and purchase cloth for our family we should pay interest from where these goods are coming and how do they treat people in Bangladesh (as an example) who are actually working at cloth factory. We may be shocked finding out the wages are so low and the working conditions are often unbearable … And the middle man service eats all profits. And we pay to keep this system going

@DJohnN 2 года назад

There’s a reason this doesn’t work. No country can impose on another country domestic legislation. Companies already pay taxes to have their factories in other countries, they sign contracts and have pay for corporate heads in those regions and countries. It is on the country where the factory is to impose better wage laws. Your premise is that if there was an added tax or “interest,” it would be passed on to the the people working the toughest jobs. It wouldn’t work like that, and if it did the countries would just lower their wages even more and take the extra profits. The only real answer is to completely stop outsourcing jobs to countries that impose slave like labor practices on behalf of western countries.

@kulturfreund6631 2 года назад

Just like Apple does. Transferring manufacturing to China or elsewhere while charging ever rising prices as if products were built in mainland USA.

@kulturfreund6631 2 года назад

P.S.: or manufacture clothing in US dominions and territories like Guam, Samoa etc., pay the workers a buck per day and label the stuff "Made in USA".

@edwardbrown7571 2 года назад

I'd say your research numbers are way way low...

@erics670 2 года назад

Charging for parking 🙄

@Fister-kw5un 2 года назад

Im going to try wage theft on my workers too. I never realized ho easy it was, thanks for the tip! Easy money! :)

@ashleycastellan2235 2 года назад

Please who can recommend me to a professional trader ?

@junefarber1986 2 года назад

Trading crypto now will be very wise but trading without a professional is not

@andrewweaver2517 2 года назад

Universal basic income! Period. Get it done!

@Pijo08el 2 года назад

Good looking Milfy, love the hair

@bobhackmeister4747 2 года назад

Milton Friedman just turned in his grave

@NathalieLazo 2 года назад

Extraordinary person reading this, you are not define by your circumstance or your past. It’s not what happened to you that determines your success in life; it is how you deal with those circumstances that determines your success in life! You are strong, you are capable and practice forgiveness (Forgiveness is for you) and gratitude everyday. This will change the course of your life forever! Love you always and I believe in you wholeheartedly ✨❤️ - Nat

@midnightisnice 2 года назад

Burgers are tasty

@kulturfreund6631 2 года назад

Are you trying to mimic all the other thousands of motivational speakers ? "The solution lies within yourself. No matter what the circumstances. Be positive and you will succeed...."

@ShopJock 2 года назад

I didn't realize how bad it was until she said it deprived the government of tax money .....

@gabaktech 2 года назад

she is a resentful employee, nobody obligate anybody to work it is a common agreement between the worker and employers

@Mo.h24 2 года назад

😔

@marwanqannam9400 2 года назад

Self motivated , punctuality , fast decision making , flexibility , cooporitive , these are the perfect features of you to getting on a good opportunity is matching with your qualifications

@ismaelfortunado 2 года назад

kindly prove my solution wrong...I also solved fermat...

@GaasubaMeskhenet 2 года назад

People need to be able to say no to employers without fear. Rent is extortion. No more forced labor! Let the people and the planet rest!!

@AJ-xm4xc 2 года назад

This is all really took off during the tech boom- when people willingly gave up their time.

@kulturfreund6631 2 года назад

I think this all took off when the USSR collapsed. When socialism was still a serious threat to Western capitalists, these capitalists had to bear in mind that their workers could adopt socialist ideas and fraternize with Eastern Europe. That's why they always had to provide a better living standard and respect for their workforce , so that they could argue that capitalism is better for them than socialism. ("Just look how miserable workers live in the "workers' paradise" ! " was a sarcastic, socialism despising phrase to be heard from mainstreamers in Western Germany.)

@The_New_Smokey 2 года назад

Um...I would have to highly disagree with how day labourers are handled in my state.

@saltiestsiren 2 года назад

we. need. unions.

@thomasseraphim3984 2 года назад

Nothings gonna change. The needy would do maximum work to earn minimum. Until the law changes.

@homewall744 2 года назад

Sure, such bad "employers" exist, but there are also many workers who don't work every hour, too, so I guess that's wage theft since they take the money and don't do the work.

@sg-cg6lr 2 года назад

If they are there, they are supposed to be paid.

@iloveyouamberappel 2 года назад

The first example is paying below minimum wage? OK... now I am starting to see she wants to focus on day labourers who are working illegally. I'm sure it's a problem but unfortunately that is what comes with the territory. People are terrible to each other and because these people can't really go to police there is little recourse. Don't come to the country illegally. When you make legally, work in a legal job paying your share of taxes and not under the table.That is the easiest solution.

@cihant5438 2 года назад

She mentioned that it is illegal not to pay workers even if the workers here are not here legally. So, if you are for law and order, you should be calling for day laborers to be paid for the work they do, because it is the law. She also mentioned legal workers in hospitality and child care. What is your suggestion to those? The solution is to enforce the laws in the books, and have the employers pay their employees for the work they have done. That is the easiest solution!

@iloveyouamberappel 2 года назад

@@cihant5438 Yes. As I said they should work legally, get paid properly, and pay taxes. I don't understand how it happens with child care unless it is a similar situation of not fully reported work. This seems to be more of a contracted work issue. Workers should, at least in part, ask for pay before the job starts. Yes. You are right the law needs to be enforced the people who are being taken advantage of need to complain. These people are working illegally so they don't. Stop the illegal work and inform workers of their rights. Hospitality is a big cluster that needs addressed on a country level. There is this general acceptance and exceptions under the law to under pay employees because of tips. Many restaurants do it and it's a common practice. As a society we need to stop this at a state level and idea of "mandatory" tipping needs to be done away with.

@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 2 года назад

You don't think they should come here illegally? What do you suggest they do?

@AV8R_Surge 2 года назад

In my youth, and as a U.S. citizen, I worked in construction. I later took advantage of an opportunity to work in a corporation. The contractor decided to not pay me for my last week of work. Pay theft occurs because businesses don't answer to no one. Sure, we can complain to the labor department, but that leads nowhere. And if you take them to court, you lose even more money from wage losses for being at court instead of working, and court fees. So most people begrudgingly move on while perpetrators continue the practice on the next victim - stealing thousands.

@iloveyouamberappel 2 года назад

@@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 Stay in their own country and apply to come in. Drive positive change in their home communities.

@davidcattaneo9355 2 года назад

Populate Ted with valuable content and good speakers. This one is none of those.

@FedExMan822 2 года назад

Have you ever worked a full days labor and not get paid? Probably not.

@oliviao2238 2 года назад

My family did this to day laborers in the '90s, and I'm embarrassed by what they did. That's how they made money. I inherited dirty money, I would give it back, but I need it because makeup is expensive, $800 a month alone.

@boyo1348 2 года назад

Lol what

@oliviao2238 2 года назад

@@boyo1348 You heard it or read that, right? It's like a never-ending guilt trip this Ted Talk.

@ScottTrosien 2 года назад

Make better choices. Don’t like your wage, start your own business and pay yourself billionz.!

@quintonsmith8164 2 года назад

Stop complaining about everything!!! People should take care of their own problems

@quintonsmith8164 2 года назад

@@ilmari23 everyone in America has the same opportunity to succeed. some take it some don’t . I came from nothing! I worked hard to get what I have!

@cirentXD 2 года назад

This video is good about bringing up an issue... but uhhh okay, is it really that important? It seems pretty out of place. Are people just not vouching for themselves or know their worth or not checking things are working? I am also amazed that TED gets no views, likes to comments despite having 20M subs. How is that possible?

@alexanderredhorse1297 2 года назад

Marx exposed this nearly 200 years ago and you guys are JUST NOW figuring this out! seriously..

@Bill..N 2 года назад

This was excruciating to watch, and egregiously overstated by Rebecca.. To single out a few vanishingly small numbers of cases where day laborers have been denied mutually agreeable wages and then extrapolate to create a straw man type problem, is intellectually dishonest in my humble opinion.. I have a great deal of personal experience in this matter and can assure Rebecca that no large-scale problem of the sort she describes, exists.. Period.

@grmpEqweer 2 года назад

Ok.

@cassidyblanke1295 2 года назад

how does your great deal of personal experience undermine millions of others??

@rothbardfreedom 2 года назад

Put your employment in an Ethereum smart contract. Don't expect the state to solve your problems.

@georgianagheorghe8848 2 года назад

If workers had more dignity, they would quit. No employees, no profit, the employers will go bankrupt and they will be put out of business. But I forgot how many people nowadays refuse to take responsibility for their lives and like to be treated like slaves.

@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 2 года назад

So how do you think they should pay their rent? Food? Clothing?

@nerdlingeeksly5192 2 года назад

Here I was thinking this is going to affect the common worker only for the video to explain how illegal immigrants don't get paid properly, If you want proper pay integrate the right way So you don't have to work under-the-table with people who are going to cheat you.

@andersonpinto3083 2 года назад

Perfect. They are illegal cause they're original country does exactly what's she's proposing in this video as a solution to US. Tell me about. I live in Brazil. I know what I'm writing. Awful video, awful ideas. Communist Manifesto online.

@grmpEqweer 2 года назад

Our system is set up to let in a supply of illegal immigrants, because certain industries make bank off of exploiting them.

@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 2 года назад

They actually DO have to, don't WANT to, but HAVE to. Because they don't have papers. Aka can't get one of those cushy "common worker" jobs.

@nerdlingeeksly5192 2 года назад

@@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 you get papers from immigrating; if you don't have an ID from your home country there are routes to get citizenship without papers like asylum, they just take longer.

@dianagonzalez-ramirez28 2 года назад

@@nerdlingeeksly5192 hmm that's a great point. But what if their families are starving? What if the violence in their neighborhood has gotten so bad that if they don't leave soon they'll surely die? Gangs like to target innocent people and charge them a monthly fee, if they don't comply, they die. Asylum cases often take a really long tims to process.