In a move to clamp down on wage theft in Santa Clara County and across California, State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, has introduced legislation to bolster enforcement and increase penalties for nonpayment of judgments. Senate Bill (SB) 261, sponsored by the County of Santa Clara, proposes the creation of a public database listing businesses with outstanding wage theft judgments and stipulates that workers and civil prosecutors could receive reimbursement for attorneys' fees when pursuing legal action to collect owed wages, according to Santa Clara County.

The impetus behind the legislation stems from the continuously problematic issues low-wage workers in multiple sectors encounter, including restaurant, hotel, construction, and health care industries, where wage theft instances manifest through meal and rest break violations, unpaid overtime, minimum wage breaches, and stealing of tips, the Civil Prosecutors Coalition, which co-sponsored the bill, also highlighted this growing concern. "We need to do more to protect working people against predators who take advantage of them," Sen. Wahab said, as per the Santa Clara County, "Wage theft is one of the most pervasive forms of crime, and it is time we increase our enforcement to ensure victims of wage theft are made whole and perpetrators are held accountable," in a statement that echoes the distress of many who are denied their rightful earnings.

County officials pointed out that even though victims obtain judgments from the State Labor Commissioner’s Office (LCO), many fail to see the compensations materialize, and over half remain unpaid, a situation calling for more rigorous legal support. Santa Clara's Office of the County Counsel and Office of Labor Standards Enforcement revealed their Worker Rights Initiative, geared towards collecting unpaid wage theft judgments. It underscored the necessity for legislation to enhance enforcement capabilities, as reported by Santa Clara County.