Armed with a new survey citing numerous instances where day laborers have been victims of wage theft, a workers? rights group Monday called on Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley to enforce laws to protect immigrants from employment abuse.
“We?re not asking for legislation right now,” said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland, a nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of immigrants. “The law is clear. We have hope that this administration will be better than the previous administration.”
CASA of Maryland demanded the O?Malley administration fully staff the state?s Employment Standards Division, part of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and to step up state investigation of employers accused of violating state wage laws. Individuals who claim not to have been paid for their work must now file a claim in civil court to recover their wages.
A CASA survey showed 75 percent of 286 state domestic workers did not receive overtime pay. In the last year, CASA said it opened 250 new cases and provided information to another 2,750 workers who sought help recovering wages.
The report also cited a 2004 survey of 476 day laborers in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., where 58 percent of those surveyed said they had been denied wages at least once.
Jessica Salisbury, staff attorney for CASA, said common problems included bad checks, lack of overtime pay, payment of less than the state?s $6.15 hourly minimum wage, underpayment and illegal payroll deductions.
“We are doing everything we can to help these people, but we don?t have the resources,” she said. “This transition in administration is an opportunity to come up with innovations.”
