It’s not perfectly fine, but they’re weighing it against Wage Theft, which outweighs all other types of theft in the US based on sheer dollar-value of how much is stolen.

No, it’s not okay to just steal from the till, but the point is the business owner can call the cops on us if we do that, and if they steal from our paychecks we have to take them to small claims court and we better have the receipts to prove it, and usually (except maybe places like California) all the business has to do is… pay back what they owe you. Nothing for damages or lost opportunities due to having less money. Nope, just pay back what they already owed you to begin with. What a joke of a slap on the wrist.