MFA 30th Policy Brief Series No. 4
— October 10, 2025MFA 30th Policy Brief Series No. 4
Wage Theft: Under Addressed – Four Years After Justice for Wage Theft Campaign
Wage theft remains a persistent issue due to structural factors embedded in modern socio-economic systems, resurfacing with particular intensity during periods of crisis, as seen most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its persistence stems from deep-seated power imbalances between employers and workers, gaps in legal enforcement, and the complexities of increasingly fragmented labour markets. Wage theft is especially prevalent in sectors reliant on precarious work, where labour often lack bargaining power, faces exclusion from formal protections and encounters significant barriers in challenging unpaid or underpaid wages. This dynamic reflects Guy Standing’s (2011) concept of the precariat, where labour market insecurity heightens vulnerability to systemic exploitation.
Read the whole in the policy brief here: MFA 30th Policy Brief Series No. 4: Wage Theft: Under Addressed – Four Years After Justice for Wage Theft Campaign
