False equivalence. Wage theft is companies using their power as an employer to rob workers. Time theft is sneaking around the edges. It’s not “pay me for this time i didn’t work or i quit”. We care about this because of the power imbalance, and it’s not present in the time theft case.

GP's comment wasn't about the power imbalance. My point is that people getting away with fraud isn't limited to employers.

Moreover, the biggest culprit of time theft are struggling businesses, and most employees can and do leave these places without a problem. The lack of a power imbalance in these cases doesn't make the wage theft any better.

Lack of power imbalance? “I might lose my job, because my company is struggling” isn’t much of a power equalizer.

The equalizer is the that people can and do decide to leave these companies that owe them wages, meaning the company has no leverage on them.

People can and do leave countries with totalitarian governments, but that doesn't mean there isn't a power imbalance between the government and the people of that country. Mobility can come at a very high cost, depending on your circumstances.