Print edition: 
The poor economy has prompted some employers to cut back on expenses by cheating workers out of pay, a group of labor leaders gathered Saturday in Wichita was told.
Representatives of the state and federal Departments of Labor were on hand when Sunflower Community Action held a meeting on what it called a growing problem with "wage theft."
The meeting drew more than 50 people, including a half-dozen state legislators, to Horace Mann Elementary School at 1243 N. Market.
A group of Sunflower Community Action members and other activists said wage law violations were more common that most people think.
Javier Garcia said he's seen many cases in which workers have been denied wages they had coming to them.
"The problem we're talking about — wage theft and labor abuse — happens every day, right here in Wichita," he said.
Sulma Arias said the poor economy has made the problem worse.
"We think wage theft only happens to immigrants and the homeless — those who are easily exploited," she said. "It has become one of worst symptoms of our economic crisis."
Kansas Labor Secretary Jim Garner told the group that his office collects more than $1 million a year in wages that were wrongfully withheld from workers.
He said he's seen a growing number of employers who illegally treat workers as independent contractors.
Such workers are denied employment benefits when they lose their jobs, he said, and they don't qualify for worker compensation when they're injured on the job.
Because no taxes are withheld under such an arrangement, he said, the practice is unfair not only to workers but to businesses that play by the rules.
Among those attending the meeting was Shannon Rebolledo, assistant director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wichita office.
She said her office conducts formal investigations of companies that systematically violate wage and hour laws.
She said the office also conducts informal investigations of less serious violations.
Among the most common violations, she said, are cases involving an employer who withholds the last paycheck of a worker who has left the company. She said phone call from her office often ensures that the paycheck gets to the worker.
Also attending the session was Karen Chaikin, who is with the U.S. Labor Department's Midwest regional office in Chicago.
She said the Labor Department is constantly looking for ways to reach out to workers whose rights have been violated by employers.
"We have a tradition of serious enforcement of federal labor laws," she said. "But we shouldn't rest on that tradition. We should build on it and do more."
