Investigations for employers who fail to settle wage theft disputes

A new crackdown from Alberta’s Ministry of Labour is going after employers accused of wage theft.

The ministry will be handing out letters soon to businesses giving them three options to resolve complaints filed against them.

The first is to pay the worker what they are owed in full, the second is for both sides to agree on some kind of compensation and the third is to file a dispute against the claim.

In the last three years in Alberta, there have been over six thousand complaints filed for wage theft for $1,500 or less.

The ministry said the complaints add up to nearly $19 million in unpaid wages and benefits.

It’s not clear when these letters will be handed out, but if the accused employers don’t comply a formal investigation will take place.

The ministry hopes this will not only cut down on the number of complaints received but also speed up the process for everyone.

A similar initiative was carried out in Ontario in 2015 that resulted in about a 25 per cent decrease in investigations.

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