The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York Final Report

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Release Date: December 01, 2014

The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York Final Report

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Topic

Employer Compliance – Wages and Earnings ,  Worker Protection, Labor Standards, and Workplace-Related Benefits

Research Methods

Study Population

U.S. Regions

U.S. States

Country

About the Report

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The report summarizes the results of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG)’s project to estimate the social and economic effects of minimum wage violations in California and New York. This project represented an exploratory effort to determine the appropriate approach and data to use to estimate the impacts of state and federal minimum wage and overtime pay violations; however, data limitations related to overtime pay violations required a focus only on minimum wage violations. The estimates developed indicate that minimum wage violations are pervasive in California and New York and are resulting in significant impacts on workers experiencing these violations.

Key Takeaways

  • The estimates developed indicate that minimum wage violations are pervasive in California and New York and are resulting in significant impacts in workers experiencing these violations.
  • Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data, minimum wage violations decreased family income to below the poverty line for 7,000 families in California and 8,000 families in New York.

Research Gaps

  • A first consideration for future work should be to consider expanding the scope of the analysis. This can include two distinct areas. First, the number of years to include in the analysis can be expanded. The second expansion involves including additional states and/or regions to the analysis. (pages 63-64)

Citation

Eastern Research Group. (2014). The Social and Economic Effects of Wage Violations: Estimates for California and New York - Final Report. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.