Hourly workers in the county have a stronger shot at reclaiming stolen wages thanks to strides made by both county and state officials, a move celebrated during a Week of Action paying homage to the late labor champion César Chávez, County News Center reported.
The county has put its muscle behind the Workplace Justice Fund, which steps in to financially support workers who have won legal battles for unpaid wages yet their pockets remain empty, because of employers dragging their heels on ponying up the dough; the fund hands out checks up to $3,000 which the county later aims to claw back from the employers. San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer stressed the importance of this initiative, stating, "When an employer cheats a worker out of fair wages, they cannot afford to pay for their basic needs, which hurts our local economy…," according to County News Center.
Focused on the plight of labor, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) has also tackled wage theft in the restaurant industry, with its Good Faith Restaurant Owners Program and, as OLSE's Branden Butler detailed, they've successfully retrieved $100,000 in unpaid wages across seven establishments since its inception last year, as reported by County News Center.
The array of injustices under the umbrella of wage theft includes, but is not limited to, stiffing workers out of minimum wage, dismissing overtime pay, and denying mandated meal and rest breaks; victims bear the brunt of these crimes, with District Attorney Summer Stephan highlighting the gravity of the issue, "When you think about wage theft, it is on a continuum. You start with wage theft abuses… Then you move all the way up to labor trafficking when that wage theft and those abuses escalate to the point of being one of the most serious human rights violations of labor trafficking, that’s when you add force, fraud and coercion…" in a story obtained by County News Center. Individuals suspecting labor trafficking can reach out to the D.A.'s office directly.
With a unifying goal, multiple entities including the County's Office of Labor Standards, the Employee Rights Center, and the State Department of Industrial Relations advance together towards a future free of wage theft; they hope to write a new narrative where workers like Sandra Cruz, a program applicant who "finally receiving justice for my case," no longer endure such exploitation. Mujeres Brew House, a trail-blazing female and Latina-operated brewery in San Diego, was lauded by OLSE for its steadfast commitment to equitable treatment of its staff.
For more information about wage theft and workers' rights, employees and employers are encouraged to contact the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement at 619-531-5129, a direct line to understanding and upholding labor laws in the community.
