UNDERSTANDING WAGE THEFT Wage theft consists of the total or partial non-payment of a worker’s remuneration, earned through the provision of labour services, as stipulated in a written or non-written employment contract. It also includes the payment of salaries below the minimum wage, non-payment of overtime, non-payment of contractually owed benefits, the nonnegotiated reduction of salaries as well as the retention of dues upon one’s contract termination. Despite being one of the most common forms of exploitation, the Institute of Human Rights and Business mentions that such practices are ‘deeply embedded in how some global supply chains operate, resulting in false price points for goods and services dependent on degrees of exploitation’. The pandemic further escalated such situations of wage theft as some large firms chose to cancel orders/projects or paying suppliers substantially reduced prices, adversely affecting suppliers and their employees. IHRB recognizes wage theft as a part and process of modern slavery. 1 2 Through the cases registered, we observe that wage theft not only comprises of the above interpretations, it also includes a wider scope of challenges to access to justice and remedy that migrant workers face in obtaining compensation and unpaid wages. These include the below scenarios as reported by grassroots level members and partners: 1. Other forms of wages deduction: A major point of wage deduction are collection or deduction of wages in the name of insurance, medical examination, and other necessary cards – typically these are to be paid by the company and despite laws and changes of policy to emphasise employer accountability in payment of such charges, CSO’s continued to observe cases before and during pandemic. 3 Secondly, workers were also asked to go on unpaid leave or their wages were deducted for taking sick leave or earned leave as well 4 Thirdly, wages were arbitrarily deduced on account of workers making mistakes at work although this is not allowed by any law.5 Fourthly, there are wage theft cases because of a lack of proper and adequate information in the agreement and the contract they receive at the country of origin. For example, migrant workers who take up driver jobs are promised monthly wages. But when some are unable to pass their driving license examination, they are not supported by their employers and not given their agreed wage mentioned in the contract. We also found cases of women migrant workers working in the hotel and hospitality sector whose earnings also depend 1 Patriarca, C. October 2020. Policy Brief No.1 – Justice For Migrant Workers: Creating an Effective Solution to Address Wage Theft. MFA. Retrieved at https://justiceforwagetheft.org/ 2 IHRB. January 2021. Top Ten Issues in 2021. Retrieved at https://www.ihrb.org/library/top-10/top-tenissues-in-2021 3 Nepal member 4 Bangladesh member 5 Nepal member 5