7/22/2020
Kerala High Court Asks For MEA Response On Wage Theft
Wage Theft & No Mechanism To Fight Leaves Indian Migrants In A Fix
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Citing COVID-19, employers in the Arab Gulf are denying migrant workers their unpaid
wages and end of service benefits.
The Lede had reported in detail how workers are giving up their wages and end of service
benefits and returning empty-handed.
Subhash Chandran KR, Supreme Court lawyer, who had filed the petition on behalf of LBB
said that wage theft is a serious issue and the Indian government should step in to fix it.
“Now the Indian missions at countries of destination are not recording the grievances of
migrant workers who are repatriated in a hurry, citing COVID-19. We should not let this
happen. When workers give up their wages and fly back empty-handed, it is going to affect the
development of our country too,” Subash told The Lede.
Wage theft, the practice of employers failing to pay workers the full wages to which they are
legally entitled, is a widespread and deep-rooted problem that directly harms millions of Asian
migrant workers each year.
Employers refusing to pay promised wages, paying less than legally mandated minimums,
failing to pay for all hours worked, or not paying overtime premiums deprives working people
of billions of dollars annually.
It also leaves hundreds of thousands of affected workers and their families in poverty.
Wage theft does not just harm the workers and families who directly suffer exploitation; it also
weakens the bargaining power of workers more broadly by putting downward pressure on
hourly wages in affected industries and occupations. Minimum wage violations, by definition,
affect the lowest-wage workers - those who can least afford to lose earnings.
This form of wage theft causes many families to fall below the poverty line. Lost wages can
hurt state and local economies, and it hurts other workers in affected industries by putting
downward pressure on wages.
There are around 3.5 million migrant workers in the Arab Gulf countries.
And the majority are working under the Kafala system, a peculiar employer-employee contract
which restricts many rights and freedom of migrant workers.
https://www.thelede.in/inclusion/2020/07/07/kerala-high-court-asks-for-mea-response-on-wage-theft
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