What could be worse than working for minimum wage?

How about working for minimum wage and having your employer cheat you out of a big chunk of your pay? That reality is evident in newly released figures from the Economic Policy Institute. The statistics show that low-wage workers in California lose nearly $2 billion a year to minimum wage violations committed by their employers.

That equates to about $64 a week or $3,400 annually. That’s 22 percent of their earnings!

If you’re slaving away at a job where your pay is that low the last thing you want to deal with is wage theft. Think about it: That $64 could have bought enough groceries to last the entire week, or it could have paid for a minor car repair (I say minor because we all know that auto repairs in the neighborhood of $64 are about as rare as seeing a live Tyrannosaurus Rex).

Minimum wage violations hurt low-wage workers in every demographic category, but the institute’s report found that young people, women, people of color and immigrant workers are disproportionately impacted by these violations, as they are more likely to work in low-wage jobs. If the study — which covers more than 50 percent of the U.S. workforce — is representative of the country as a whole, the authors estimate that American workers are being cheated out of more than $15 billion a year.

Now that’s a big number.

It’s enough to build Trump’s proposed border wall, or 7,500 miles of rural two-lane roads … or 1,360 miles of six-lane highways in urban areas. So the next time you’re bumping along on a back road full of potholes, think about those greedy employers.

Six organizations have joined forces to combat wage theft in the workplace. They’ve formed a statewide collaborative called Make Work Pay, which will focus heavily on wage theft in California, since it’s the most populous state in the U.S. Members of the collaborative include the Center on Policy Initiatives, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, National Employment Law Project, Southern California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, Working Partnerships USA and Worksafe.

Their goal is to build on California’s legislative wins that raise wages and strengthen labor standards enforcement.

“Having policies in place is a crucial first step, but policy wins don’t mean much if employers aren’t held accountable,” said Derecka Mehrens of Working Partnerships USA. “What’s key is strong enforcement of wage and hour laws, consequences for employers who cheat their workers out of their wages, protections for workers who report violations, and action to lift up workers’ voices in the workplace.”

Many of the minimum-wage workers we see are cashiers, dishwashers, gardeners, call center workers, home health aids, parking attendants, waiters and farm workers. The jobs they do might not be glamorous, but we’d sure feel a void if they suddenly weren’t there.

On Jan. 1, California’s minimum wage was boosted to $10 an hour for employers with 25 or few employees and $10.50 an hour for businesses with 26 or more workers. But some cities have bumped it even higher. Pasadena’s currently minimum wage of $10.50 an hour for companies with 26 or more employees is set to jump to $12 an hour on July 1.

That’s significantly higher than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has held steady since 2009.

I’m not about to step into the debate on minimum wage. But regardless of how much someone earns, they shouldn’t have to worry about their employer stealing a sizable portion of their hard-earned pay.