Flori was working as a hotel housekeeper when she called Equal Rights Advocates’ Advice and Counseling hotline to recover wages she was not paid for time she had worked.  Flori’s employer, who hired and oversaw a non-unionized workforce, consistently required her to work before and after she clocked in each day, but did not pay her wages for that time worked, much less for overtime.  Though subjected to the same unlawful practices, Flori’s co-workers were too fearful of losing their jobs to come forward.

Earlier this year, ERA settled Flori’s claim against her employer and secured her the back-wages and overtime compensation she was owed.  ERA continues to monitor the employer’s wage and hour policies and practices for its current employees.

Getting paid for work performed is absolutely necessary to the survival and economic empowerment of low-wage women workers and their families.  Flori’s case highlights the injustice of wage theft among low-income immigrant workers who are marginalized by their national origin and limited English proficiency.

According to a recent report from UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, nearly 75 percent of workers in the hotel and restaurant industries in large U.S. cities are not paid for work they have performed “off-the-clock.”  The report also showed that close to 80 percent of low-income Latina immigrant workers in major cities across the country are not paid overtime.

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