Kill a Worker? You're Not a Criminal. Steal a Worker's Pay? You Are One.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez came into office pledging to create good jobs and take on the economic injustice that oppresses blue-collar workers, from raising the minimum wage and restoring unpaid overtime to combatting wage theft. Luckily, the head of his Wage and Hour Division, David Weil, the author of a revelatory report on how to make the most of strategic enforcement, has moved out quite aggressively. It's a pity that other, even more serious crimes, don't seem to get the same priority from elsewhere in the Labor Department. Yesterday, Weil and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that they'd filed charges and secured a guilty plea from the owner of nine Papa John's restaurants who did not pay his workers the minimum wage, stole some of the wages they owed the workers, and fabricated tax returns to cover up his misdeeds. "My office will not hesitate to criminally prosecute any employer who underpays workers and then tries to cover it up by creating fake names and filing fraudulent tax returns," said Schneiderman. Added Weil, "This judgment should be a wake-up call for all employers who think they can break the law, not pay their workers, cover it up and get away with it. It is part of our commitment to ensure that employers who play by the rules aren't unfairly undercut by competitors who cheat, and that workers are guaranteed a fair day's pay for a fair day's work."