With the new year comes a new way for workers to collect overdue paychecks.
The Alachua County Wage Recovery Program, which offers a structured method for helping residents negotiate with employers to get withheld wages, launched Jan. 1.
The ordinance passed 3-2 at an April County Commission meeting, about four months after its inception, according to Alligator archives.
So far, no one has filed a claim with the office, said Alachua County equal opportunity manager Jacqueline Chung.
“We have received some calls with questions but no formal complaints yet,” she said.
When the complaints do start rolling in, the office will be ready, she said. One full-time employee has been designated to investigate wage theft as well as reported discrimination in employment or housing.
The first step of the wage recovery process is for the employee to alert the employer that they owe wages within 60 days after the money was due.
If the employee can’t resolve the issue alone, he or she must contact the county Equal Opportunity Office within 180 days — about five months — to get the mediation process started.
Although no one has taken advantage of the system yet, employee rights activist Jeremiah Tattersall said the measure is giving workers confidence to confront employers who owe them money.
Tattersall, who advocated for the measure with the Alachua County Wage Theft Task Force, said he knew of one person afraid to speak up about wage theft. But after the ordinance took effect, the employee felt comfortable enough to talk to the employer about the issue as the first step of the wage recovery process dictates, and the worker received the withheld money.
“Having the legal backing helps people be bolder,” Tattersall said.
He said younger workers can especially benefit from the wage recovery program.
“Students tend to take the lower-paid jobs,” he said, “and the research shows that the lower paid your job … the more susceptible you are to wage theft.”
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/9/2014 under the headline "County launches wage theft recovery program"
