Denial of Earned Wages and Psychological Distress among Latino Day Laborers: The Impact of Work-Related Mistreatment and Powerlessness on Mental Health.

Intentional failure to pay workers their full wage for completed work—either by not paying at all or paying less than promised—is a widespread form of workplace abuse that disproportionately affects low-wage immigrant workers. Latino day laborers (LDLs) frequently experience this mistreatment, which can undermine their financial stability and mental health. In this study, we examined associations between being denied earned wages (not paid at all or paid less than promised) and select indicators of psychological distress (depression, state anxiety, and perceived stress). We also explored the influence of perceived powerlessness on these associations. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 300 LDLs at 18 day-labor hiring sites. Participants reported the number of times in the past month they had (1) not been paid at all and (2) been paid less than promised for a completed job. Perceived powerlessness, depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed using validated measures. Linear regression was used to estimate associations between each wage denial exposure and each psychological distress indicator, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics. Path analyses were conducted to evaluate whether powerlessness accounted for associations between wage denial and psychological distress. Regressions revealed that being paid less than promised was associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, path analyses indicated that powerlessness may partially account for 36.1% of the observed association with depression, 16.2% with anxiety, and 27.7% with stress. These findings point to being denied earned wages for completed work as an important contributor to Latino day laborers’ vulnerability to psychological distress.