One form of stealing that many people tend to overlook is underpaying. Underpaying is paying less than is deserved for services or labor. It violates the 8th commandment because it unfairly deprives workers of their just due.
Underpaying is a form of stealing by withholding from another what should be rightfully theirs. In James 5:4-6, it is written: “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”
The passage above shows how the Lord condemns those who do not pay their laborers their just salaries. Underpaying is considered to be a form of fraud, even! Those who commit this act are violating the law of God.
