Wage theft is responsible for roughly three times as much economic loss as all other types of theft combined. For example, in 2012, all of the robberies, larcenies, and motor vehicle thefts in the nation cost their victims just under $14 billion. In that same year, it is estimated that wage theft cost workers more than $50 billion, with only $933 million of that amount recovered. 
  
Despite the magnitude and persistence of this problem, our Commonwealth has utterly failed to address this issue in a meaningful way that would correct and deter this reprehensible practice in which far too many employers engage. Wage theft takes many different forms, including but not limited to: employers deliberately paying their employees below the minimum wage, stealing workers’ tips, requiring workers to work off the clock, misclassifying workers, denying adequate meal or rest breaks, failing to pay overtime premiums, garnishing employee wages for broken items or customer theft, or engaging in other practices to disadvantage employees and not pay them the wage they deserve. 
  
Currently, our system allows employees to report their employer for these violations, but too often instances of wage theft are not investigated and employers are not penalized. Employees may only receive the back wages owed plus 25% of that total amount or $500, whichever is greater. Employers who violate Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law may be penalized by a fine of no more than $300 or imprisonment of up to 90 days for each offense. An employer’s violation of the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act can result in a penalty of a fine between $75 to $300 and imprisonment between 10 and 60 days depending on the offense. 
  
Additionally, wage theft continues to be penalized very infrequently (or often not at all) because employees are often unaware that a theft has occurred, and, even when the theft is discovered, obtaining legal representation is incredibly difficult since the cost of pursuing a wage theft claim often far exceeds the amount recoverable. In fact, it is far more likely that an employee who stole from their employer will be prosecuted than an employer who stole an equal amount from their employee. 
  
Recently, district attorneys and state attorneys general have been more concerned with tackling this economic scourge, only to discover that current laws neither incentivize victims to report instances of wage theft nor deter malicious employers from engaging in wage theft. 
 
Accordingly, we propose the following legislative package, which would also establish the Wage Enforcement Fund, and would be funded by fines and penalties collected from all wage theft violation cases.