85% of California fast-food workers have experienced wage theft, study finds

When Alicia Lara picked up a second job and started working at the Jack in the Box in North Highlands, California in 2018, she regularly found herself forced to work through legally mandated breaks. “When I needed a break I’d go to the manager but they wouldn’t give me any of my paid breaks,” Lara said through a translator. “We were understaffed, so we had to keep working.” It’s a form of wage theft, experienced by thousands of low-paid workers in the state’s fast-food industry, according to a new survey released last week by the Service Employees International Union through its Fight for $15 ...