“We can do something to stop wage theft. It’s a matter of looking and asking, that’s how I found and received support from El CENTRO. Here they’ve guided me and they’ve given me the support I needed to fight back against my situation. – Sabina Armendáriz

Sabina was an employee at Hope Head Start & Nursery. She had been working there for about a year before she stopped getting paid for three work periods between October and November of 2015.

After asking why she hadn’t been paid for her work, the owner of the business explained that she would pay her but she needed to wait. “I kept persisting her for my pay which by this time it was 3 pay periods. She did pay me for only one pay period but still withheld the last two.”

After insisting on her pay, due to the lack of payment she was forced to leave the company. She already knew of other people that had been through the same situation of having their wages stolen. “ I decided to leave before working more hours and not getting paid for them.”

“The company still owes me two pay periods. I am not sure how many hours that is because these two periods also include overtime hours that I worked.”

Upon leaving the company, she had a chance to talk to a friend who had already worked there. She advised her to go to the Dept. of Workforce Solutions to file for a case of Wage Theft. The Dept. currently has filed four different cases against Hope head Start and Nursery.

“Another friend of mine told me about El CENTRO. She had been receiving support and guidance for her individual labor case…this motivated me to search support from the organization.” At El CENTRO she has found the support that she needed to denounce this business. “They have helped us a lot and always keep our case in mind.”

At the moment, Sabina and the other three women who filed the case of Wage Theft against this business are waiting for a court hearing date. She is confident her wage will be repaid.

“There are organizations out there, such as El CENTRO, that are out there to help and guide us!”