I think almost everyone would trade away their 10-minute breaks for an assurance of never getting robbed or shot, so it's more like a house with a few glass windows. Also, the law and punishment around wage theft seems to be pretty stable, as seen in all these convictions. If wage theft started increasing like violent crime, we might start paying more attention to it.
I would also trade my left arm to stop school shootings, but funny enough life doesn't work that way
McDonalds and other companies do wage theft because it's profitable. Having to pay out a couple of times whenever someone raises a fuss is already paid for by all the times someone didn't notice. Unlike violent crime it affects nearly all of us directly and represents a larger monetary value than all burgarlies and larcenies put together.
"The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy.""
- Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah
