I see you’ve never witnessed the DoL fuck a small business to death over stuff like this. The owner would be required to pay back, at minimum, the x amount he stole from the employees. Often it’s several times as much, which could easily bankrupt them.
The real issue is that employees don’t usually know what the boss is doing is illegal.
Mostly what happens is the owner pays back a fraction (if that) before telling the former employees to fuck off. Said former employees then need to decide if it is worth finding a lawyer to pursue this. And the margins for small businesses are often small enough that it is pretty easy to shuffle off any assets and then declare bankruptcy before doing it all over again later.
Everyone loves the news story where an asshole has been ordered to pay a massive fine. Very few people pay attention to what happens after the local DA takes a campaign photo.
I see you’ve never witnessed the DoL fuck a small business to death over stuff like this. The owner would be required to pay back, at minimum, the x amount he stole from the employees. Often it’s several times as much, which could easily bankrupt them.
The real issue is that employees don’t usually know what the boss is doing is illegal.
In rare (usually politically charged) cases? Sure
Mostly what happens is the owner pays back a fraction (if that) before telling the former employees to fuck off. Said former employees then need to decide if it is worth finding a lawyer to pursue this. And the margins for small businesses are often small enough that it is pretty easy to shuffle off any assets and then declare bankruptcy before doing it all over again later.
Everyone loves the news story where an asshole has been ordered to pay a massive fine. Very few people pay attention to what happens after the local DA takes a campaign photo.