Florida Ranks 4th in U.S. for Wage Theft Violations

Investing and trading education company, Goat Academy, analyzed new data from the US Department of Labor showing Florida as one of the top states where employees are getting ripped off.

“America has a wage theft epidemic,” said the report.

Some of the examples of wage theft when employers do not pay workers according to the law. Wage theft includes paying less than minimum wage, not paying workers overtime, not allowing workers to take meal and rest breaks, requiring off the clock work, or taking workers’ tips. Not paying annual leave or holiday entitlements, or simply not paying an employee at all. Also added to that, failing to pay wages or provide employee benefits owed to an employee by contract or law.

The top states where this crime is committed found Maryland to be the state with the most significant wage theft violations, with $2,221 of back wages per employee. Delaware is in second place with $1,822 owed per employee, and Virginia in third with $1,680 and Florida is the 4th worst offending state, with $1,657 owed per worker.

Legal analysts say millions are being taken away from workers and it goes unreported because employees may not fully understand what constitutes wage theft, or they fear reprisals.

The report said in Florida, companies committed 23,176 violations since 2021, with almost 10,000 employees affected and a staggering total of $16 million dollars still not paid to them.

The information for the study collected back wage data rom the US Department of Labor, from January 2021 to June 2024. For each state the total violations, employees affected and back wages agreed to pay ($) was collected.

The violations per employee (total violations / employees affected), back wages per employee (back wages agreed to pay / employees affected) were calculated and states were ranked by back wages per employee.