When the Punishment Doesn't Fit the Crime, or; Why Elon Musk Breaks the Law

 I'll be blunt: Elon Musk breaks labor laws with impunity because the punishment for doing so is cheaper than complying with the law. Example: the WARN Act requires giving either 60 days' notice of a layoff or an equivalent number of days' pay, but the penalty is (duh duh duh!) the pay. Violating the National Labor Relations Act by disciplining an employee for acting in concert with another employee to improve working conditions (for example, forming a union or, you know, asking the heat to be turned on) is penalized with . . . . a posted notice that the employer violated the law. On the bulletin board in the breakroom. Workplace injury? Your damages are limited to workers' comp payments governed by laws written in the 1950s.

I'm not exaggerating. Breaking labor law is way cheaper than complying with it. Instead of being shocked that Musk is a serial lawbreaker, be shocked that workplace rights are so low priority that even a Democratic Congress hasn't bothered to increase funding for enforcement agencies for over a decade. 

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