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Editorial: Fighting wage theft

 
Published Oct. 12, 2015

Hillsborough County commissioners have moved sensibly toward a compromise that should result in the adoption of a wage theft ordinance. Commissioners may disagree on the best way to combat wage theft, but it is encouraging to see them put workers' needs first and provide relief to those who are being cheated out of pay or benefits.

Commissioners voted 6-1 last week to accept a hybrid of two popular wage theft ordinance models out of Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Hillsborough's version, which commissioners will discuss in a public hearing later this month, will point workers seeking redress to an administrative hearing in state court. If mediation fails, the county will connect disgruntled workers with Bay Area Legal Services, a nonprofit that provides legal services to the indigent.

Wage theft often occurs among the country's most vulnerable workers, typically in the construction, restaurant or tourism industries. According to recent studies, Hillsborough is among Florida's most notorious counties for stolen wages.

The Legislature should bring uniformity to the patchwork of local wage theft laws cropping up around the state. But absent their leadership, local governments, including in Hillsborough and Pinellas County, which will hold a public hearing on its proposed ordinance next month, should keep going. Floridians cannot afford to work for free.