The coronavirus has presented a number of challenges to workers around the world. From temporary layoffs, to working from home, the workforce has had to adapt to keep everyone safe. But are employers playing fair, or are they using these extenuating circumstances to exploit workers?

One of the potential violations we may see going forward is wage theft, whether in the form of off-the-clock work from home or other unpaid time.

For example, corrections officers in IL recently filed a case for unpaid time spent putting on their PPE before work and removing it and showering after – a new job requirement after the coronavirus outbreak. For hourly workers, sanitizing and putting on/taking off their PPE, etc. is often uncompensated work. This can result not only in unpaid straight time, but in unpaid overtime if the extra time puts the worker over 40 hours a week.

We expect to see more violations over the coming months, but one effect of the many changes caused to the workforce because of the coronavirus is that workers are more willing to band together and stand up for their rights to collectively protect themselves.

Getman, Sweeney & Dunn is proud to stand up for workers and fight wage theft in any form.

You can read more about the impact of the coronavirus on workers here.