Most low-wage workers have experienced wage theft or unpaid wages at least once at their job. According to the authoritative 2010 report, Unregulated Work in Chicago, the average worker loses approximately 16% of their earnings to wage theft, and 67% of workers who worked overtime hours are not paid the legally required overtime pay rate.

The study concludes that Chicago workers lose an astounding $7.6 million in unpaid wages every week.

The most vulnerable workers are the most acutely impacted: foreign-born workers are 1.5 times more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to suffer a minimum wage violation. African American workers are 27 times more likely to experience a minimum wage violation than their white counterparts.

Since the inception of the Working Hands Legal Clinic, to the Just Pay for All Coalition, to today, Raise the Floor Alliance has developed expertise in wage theft enforcement and will continue to work at the state and municipal level to ensure that low-wage workers are able to win and collect the wages they are owed.