[SoftTalker]

Actually not paying earned wages is one of the few things that has a lot of teeth around it. Federal rules typically award back pay and an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus attorney's fees and court costs, and states may add penalties of their own.

[tough]

does this still apply as a contractor and not employee?

[SoftTalker]

I don't know but probably not. A contractor may have other remedies such as filing a lien on assets.

[999900000999]

That's the other game a lot of employers play, they'll classify you as a 1099 to avoid those pesky worker rights.

You have no other options because you need the money.

My friend who wasn't paid at all was told by a lawyer it wasn't worth pursuing.

So much of our legal system, and really society is based off gentlemen agreements. You don't still someone out of 600$ in wages because you don't do that.

When that gentlemen agreement is broken, realistically no lawyer is going to open a case over 600$, you have no real recourse.

[tough]

I hope i dont have to find out, but it seems like anything in the US that requires lawyers would by default be an expensive option to pursue (from my lack of knowledge standing, at least, feels like that)

[lovich]

Wage theft is one of the largest classes of theft in the US if not the largest. The government may do some work against the most egregious instances of theft but they barely stop it.

This is 2012 data but it seems like the FBI is no longer reporting the stats when I went to their crime data tool[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wage_theft_versus_other_p...