Wage theft for construction and trades workers — how to spot it and document it

Construction has more layers than almost any other job — a general contractor, subs, sub-subs, labor brokers — and every layer is a place your pay can get thinner. When you're not sure exactly who your employer is, it's hard to know who owes you, which is exactly why your own record matters.

Misclassification is the industry's signature problem. Getting handed a 1099 and called a 'subcontractor' when you show up to a site, use the crew's tools, and take orders like an employee can strip out overtime and shift taxes and insurance onto you. Cash-in-hand pay is common too — and while cash spends fine, when there's no pay stub there's no record, so a boss can later claim you worked fewer hours or were paid more than you were. On public or funded jobs there are often 'prevailing wage' requirements, and a common trick is paying below that rate, misrecording your job classification, or not paying the required fringe amounts.

The everyday shortfalls are familiar to anyone on a crew: unpaid time loading up, driving to the site, or waiting for materials; hours shaved off the timesheet; the last check that never comes when a job wraps or a sub disappears; and long weeks with no overtime because you were told you're a 'contractor'. Because the work is physical and crews are close, retaliation — being sent home, taken off the schedule, or threatened — after asking about pay is a real risk, and it belongs in your notes.

rippedoffworker is not a law firm and won't tell you whether you were misclassified or owed prevailing wage. What it does is let you log your hours, your pay, who ran the crew, and what you were promised, so a dated record survives even when a sub vanishes.