Beatriz stares at her weekly pay stub, trying to decipher the cryptic codes and abbreviations scattered across the document. As a dedicated home health aide (HHA) caring for elderly clients, she works long hours but struggles to understand why her paycheck seems smaller than expected. The pay stub lists mysterious deductions and uses terminology that makes little sense to someone whose first language isn't English.
Why Doesn’t My Pay Stub Include Travel Time?
More than 18% of Massachusetts residents are immigrants, hailing from countries all over the world. And as of 2025, the American Immigration Council states that nearly 40% work as home health aids—and they face a troubling reality. Employers often exploit language barriers and present pay stubs filled with confusing jargon, creating the perfect cover for digital wage theft. When HHAs can't understand their pay documentation, they certainly won’t be able to notice when they're being cheated out of their hard-earned pay.
Phillips Garcia Law understands how pay stub clarity directly impacts immigrant worker rights. Our team is ready to help employees fight for wage justice and recover stolen income while ensuring future pay transparency.
What Is Digital Wage Theft?
This occurs when employers use technology and electronic payroll systems to systematically underpay workers while hiding these violations behind confusing documentation. Unlike traditional wage theft—which might involve simply not paying overtime—digital wage theft relies on complex pay stub formats and electronic records that obscure illegal practices.
Home health agencies increasingly use digital payroll platforms that can generate pay stubs with misleading information. These systems might:
- Show incorrect hourly rates.
- Fail to accurately record and pay travel time.
- Miscalculate overtime pay.
- Apply unauthorized deductions that workers can't easily identify or challenge.
Employers might electronically manipulate data, alter records, and present information in ways that make it difficult for immigrant workers to fully understand their true compensation. When combined with language barriers, digital wage theft becomes an almost invisible crime.
How Do Unclear Pay Stubs Enable Wage Theft?
These documents create barriers for HHAs in several ways:
- Confusing abbreviations. Pay stubs often include codes without any explanation of what these deductions represent. Employers count on workers not understanding these terms, allowing them to take money for services never provided, such as:
- "ADJ" (Adjustment)
- "MISC DED" (Miscellaneous Deduction)
- "SYS FEE" (System Fee)
- “TRANS” (a flat mileage fee that does not include travel time
- Failing to list travel time as hours worked. You know you worked 8 hours with travel time. Your employer only put 6 hours on your pay and says they only have to pay you for “time with the patient,” not for travel time between patients.
- Hidden overtime violations. Home health aides might see overtime calculations presented in ways that hide underpayments. Complex scheduling across multiple clients makes it nearly impossible for workers to verify correct pay without clear documentation.
- Unexplained deductions. Employees could also notice various fees and charges removed from their pay without clear explanations or prior agreements. A lack of pay stub clarity regarding these deductions includes everything from uniform costs to illegal administrative fees.
Another important note: each company might have special codes that relate to only their workforce and operations, which adds to the confusion. Here’s a detailed example from the National Institutes of Health to demonstrate just how challenging it can be to understand your company’s pay stub—even if English is your first language.
What Legal Solutions Are Available to Immigrant Home Health Aides?
The Massachusetts Wage Act provides powerful protections for workers facing wage theft, regardless of immigration status. The compassionate team at Phillips Garcia Law helps workers understand and exercise these rights:
- No immigration status requirements. Massachusetts courts and the Attorney General’s Office confirm that immigration status doesn’t affect a worker’s right to recover unpaid wages. Employers cannot use immigration status as a defense in wage theft cases.
- Detailed information mandate. Employers must provide specific information about hours worked, rates paid, and any deductions taken in every wage statement.
- Anti-retaliation laws. M.G.L. c. 149, §148A prohibits retaliation against workers who make wage complaints, cooperate in investigations, or assert their rights. Retaliation can itself be a separate violation with damages.
- Triple damages for violations. Our team helps HHAs file claims to recover unpaid wages. All successful claims for unpaid wages, regardless of employer intent, could result in mandatory treble (triple) damages plus attorney’s fees and costs. This applies even if the violation wasn’t willful.
Additionally, employers may have translation obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if they receive federal funding and employ significant numbers of non-English-speaking workers.
Don’t Let an Employer Take Away Your Hard-Earned Pay
The bottom line is this: you have a legal right to file a complaint if you suspect you’re not being paid fairly. Save copies of all pay stubs and track actual hours worked, even if the documentation seems confusing, and ask employers to clearly explain any deductions or codes you don't understand, even if you need an interpreter. Refusal to provide this information may indicate illegal practices.
The attorneys at Phillips Garcia Law understand both wage theft tactics and the unique challenges facing immigrant workers in the Massachusetts health care industry. Call us today to protect your rights and recover your lost wages.