COVID-19 pandemic induced wage theft: evidence from Sri Lankan migrant workers

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic-related labour market issues and the rapid departure from countries of destination have heightened wage theft issues faced by migrant workers. This article provides scientific evidence on pandemic-induced wage theft experienced by migrant workers with the aim of minimising migrant workers’ exposure to similar cases of injustice in the future. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of data on migrant workers who returned to Sri Lanka during the pandemic provides evidence of the dimensions of wage theft. These dimensions include non-negotiable wage reductions and delays in payment of dues, non-payment of salary dues, non-provision of other dues and benefits, unconsented setting off of benefits, non-transparent calculation of benefits and their setting off against other goods and services provided by employer and holding migrant workers in situations of bonded labour. The findings also highlight that non-payment of due wages is more common among vulnerable migrant workers. The article suggests strategies to remedy wage theft issues faced by migrant workers by changing the behaviour of the migrant workers as well as by changing the behaviour the employers. Moreover, the punitive measures to offending employers need to be combined with remedial financial compensation measures to victimised migrant workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Wage theft
• migrant workers
• COVID-19

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Thilini Bandara, Thisuri Ekanayake and Manisha Weeraddana for research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Protection of Wages Convention (No. 95) for instance has been ratified and is currently in effect in 99 countries, but these do not include many major migrant-receiving countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia or Gulf states such as Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (ILO, n.d.).

2 Statistics based on 2015–2019 data.

3 Read Weeraratne (2020) for a detailed description of repatriation to Sri Lanka during the pandemic.