[minikites]

>the employer has to make them whole

No they don't, because what are you going to do about it? Hire a lawyer on your minimum wage salary (assuming you even know you're getting cheated)?

[cgriswald]

Every employee in the United States can file complaints with their state labor board and the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.

[minikites]

If this is both true and effective, why is wage theft still extremely prevalent?

[kube-system]

Because people who are in a position to be earning those kinds of wages heavily correlate with other situational factors (social, educational, legal, etc.) which may prevent them from reporting the violations. And, the employers who tend to engage in wage theft are generally small businesses, which there are a ton of.