How do i deal with extreme illegal job conditions?

Question

I work for a chinese food place and they pay me $6 under the counter, there are bugs and cockroaches everywhere and they have been found in the food. I have a feeling the people working in the kitchen are here in the U.S. illegally and they get paid $1 an hour!! We're not allowd to claim our tips they go to the cooks, and if we do they accuse us of stealing. The minimum wage in NH is $6.50, as of september first and we're not seeing anything of it (my co-worker and i). We're giving our 2 weeks tomorrow but want to tell the police about these horrid conditions we've been working in. Is there any way we could get in trouble for working under the table, we're both minors and scared of the out come. Thanks for reading.

Answer 1

I doubt you will get in trouble, because 1) you are a minor and 2) the restaurant is supposed to follow the law. If you are still scared, send an anonymous tip to the local police, OSHA, the health department, and the state department of labor. Also, spread the work to everyone you know that they should never eat there.

Answer 2

It is very likely there is a mechanism where you can make a report of this kind anonymously, then an inspector will be sent to verify it and check for any illegalities, including underage and illegal employees.

If your town does not have a health department, you could contact the Department of Immigration (or whatever they are called where you live), they are usually very keen to interview possible illegals.

According to the North County Times newspaper, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's free tip line is [phone].

The Department of Homeland Security has a website you can visit to find phone numbers to make reports (see below). They don't accept email reports, however.

The Department of Labor has a website that provides a lot of advice, with a special section for young people, which you should consider reading! It also gives information about how to report non-compliance with the various laws.

Because you are a minor, and if you have not worked before, you will probably find that the authorities will take a more lenient view and you will very likely just get a warning.

However, even if the penalty is more severe, you must report this place. They are abusing you, and the other workers there (who, if they are illegally employed may not even be aware of what the rules are, and may be intimidated) and are a public health menace. And they may also not be paying tax or have insurance in case of accident.

This experience should also teach you a valuable lesson ~ when you work 'under the counter' you leave yourself exposed to abuse at a much greater level than legitimate workers.

People who are employed and pay their taxes have every right to expect the government to offer them some level of protection from exploitation, but you leave yourself at the mercy of crooks and abusers if you have to hide what you are doing from the law.

You also leave yourself open to be charged with an offence, which could seriously affect your future prospects!

Please do yourselves a favour and get proper jobs, even if they pay a little less or mean less than perfect conditions. However, given your experiences at this job ~ you have nowhere to go but UP from here!

Good luck :-)

Answer 3

No. You cannot get in trouble for working under the table. The point of working under the table is that you're getting paid measly money for a measly job. I worked under the table for 2 years in middle and high school and I'm still working under the table as of now for another boss. So don't be afraid that anything will happen to you for accepting money under the table. It's not illegal. BUT, you can not claim that you are not getting paid the legal minimum wage and you don't have any taxes getting taken out of your salary. You are actually making more than you would be if you weren't getting paid under the table. So I wouldn't even bother would reporting that you are not getting paid the right amount since the government isn't seeing any of that money anyway, and they probably won't care.

I would call the health department as soon as possible. You live in NH so here is the website with numbers for the division which would handle this claim : http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/FOODPROTECTION/CONTACT+INFO/default.htm

Also try to get your parents involved. Tell your mother or your friends' mother to make the call for you. Usually people listen more if it's an adult reporting a crime, because kids have a tendency to play pranks. (sorry that's just the way it is).

As far as the employees getting paid $1 an hour, you may want to fill out the form on this website, http://www.labor.state.nh.us/contact_NHDOL.asp
and hope someone will check up on it. They are more likely to check up on the food situation, but you can always give it a try. Sadly through this process you're probably going to find out that bureaucracy sucks but all the best and good luck!

Answer 4

Report them to state wage and hour and then to the Internal Revenue Service, the Health department and the INS. Be discreet because you are about to make an enemy. I would quit now (because you just found out what they are doing is illegal) and because of your youth, you were not sure how to handle the job conditions but feel it is your responsibility to step up and do something about it. Be sure to report your income to the IRS as contract labor so you will have to pay social security as well as income tax. Waitresses have a different minimum wage because of the tips. Be sure to declare any tips that you kept to the IRS too. Sounds like your employer needs to get into some trouble. . .

Answer 5

whoa there buddy. Terry needs to lighten up. It's very unlikely that an untaxed $6 wage is going to break the IRS. You never had an "under the table" job as a teenager? geez.

Anyway....report them to the department of health like someone above me said. You could say you just ate there and were disgusted with the conditions, or you could say you just went inside for a job interview...or you could just be anonomous. If you could take photos...like maybe with your cell phone and print them out from a computer to maybe send along with your complaint..it might make a difference....

Answer 6

youre going to have to go under the counter with your reportings. pcitures, videos, samples of stuff. say that you are getting paid under the table at a food business. id take the nasty buggy stuff to the health department, and as for the underthe table under minimum wage...that is not your fault AND you are minors...thats more protection for you.... see what the cops say, and if they did crap...go to the board of labor. they will do something. and somethings a family owned business will pay their children to work there for very litte...but its still illegal! good luck with all of this...and remember EVIDENCE!

Answer 7

Call your county health department. People can get seriously ill from eating there. Most people don't know there are all sorts of parasites that can infect humans just by eating food prepared in filthy kitchens.

You may want to take photos.

Answer 8

Report them to the health department. You can say you ate there and there were cockroaches in your food. You might be able to report it anonymously. It's worth a try.

Answer 9

Video tape the conditions and sell it to the news media. Muah hahaha.

Answer 10

Of course. You've been deliberately defrauding the government. You already know you are supposed to pay taxes on your income. That's why people like me pay so much in taxes - because people like you take advantage of the system and don't pay your way.

If you were any kind of citizen, you'd have reported this place to the health department ages ago; but then, since you are yourself a criminal, I guess we can't expect very much from you can we?