Anthony Victoria
For 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Anthony Victoria. This is IE Latino Voices, where we take a look at the people and issues shaping our region. Latino workers make up a significant part of the Inland Empire's workforce, but some workers say they face exploitation, including wage theft, when employers fail to pay them what they're owed. I recently spoke with Lilia Garcia-Brower, California's Labor Commissioner, how her office is working to address these issues.
Commissioner, how her office is working to address these issues. For people who may not be familiar with the Labor Commissioner's office, what does your office do, and how do you help workers?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
The Labor Commissioner's office is responsible for ensuring that every worker understands what their rights are, and understand the services we provide if they find themselves in a problem where their right is being violated. We also investigate cases proactively.
Specifically, we have about four different buckets of work. There's the wage theft when employers don't pay workers what they're owed. We also have public works complaints that we do. So, when the city or county or state use government money to build a structure or any public works, that needs to be done under a higher wage rate. And the last thing is that we register and license nine different industries, like agriculture, farm labor contractors, janitorial, car wash, etc. and our agency oversees that process.
Anthony Victoria
You mentioned earlier that your office addresses wage theft. What does wage theft look like, and what are some examples workers should be aware of when it comes to wage theft?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
Wage theft is when an employer does not pay a worker what is legally required. So that could look like somebody working overtime and not being paid. That could be somebody being paid less than minimum wage, or somebody asking for their paid sick days and not receiving their paid sick days, or somebody being denied meal and rest breaks, right, and their employer not paying them what is due. That is wage theft.
Anthony Victoria
Who's most vulnerable to wage theft?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
The most vulnerable workers tend to be undocumented workers, immigrant workers, young workers, single moms, workers with access and functional needs who are desperate and they don't have access to understand what their protections are. They may be speaking a different language than English, and they have economic pressures that they're just desperate to find a job and to keep a job.
Anthony Victoria
And for someone who believes they're not being paid what they're owed, what kind of records or documents should they keep?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
It's important to have the employer's information, know the first name, the last name, what the address is. Have car license plates of vehicles that they drive, so that if you have a problem, you could file a claim against them. The second thing is, know what you're owed. A lot of times, workers think, "Well, the employer keeps a timesheet." You need one because how do you know they're not manipulating that to hide hours? The other piece to knowing what you're owed is keeping your wage checks. It's the worker's burden to prove they weren't paid properly.
Anthony Victoria
Absolutely, and that's a crucial point, Commissioner, because with undocumented workers who maybe have a little bit more concern about providing documentation or going to an agency like your office...what protections do they have, and how can they continue to report workplace violations?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
In California, immigration status does not impact the protections a worker has at work. If a worker complains about not being paid all the hours that they work, and then their boss says, "Oh, you're going to complain about that? Well, I'm going to call the police, or I know your mom doesn't have papers." In California, that is illegal, and if we are able to prove that violation, there's a $10,000 penalty that the company has to pay that goes to the worker.
Anthony Victoria
If someone who's listening to the segment, if they think they may have experienced wage theft or another workplace violation, how can they reach out to your office? How can they reach out to you?
Lilia Garcia-Brower
So, they should look at our website wagetheftisacrime.com. Call our information line at 833-526-4636. If they have an immigration-related specific issue with respects to work...for example, if they have a relative that was detained in a recent raid and didn't receive their last check, or if they have a relative that was deported and didn't receive their last check...we have a rapid response plan in place. They could call our immigration helpline at 855-526-7775, and our team will respond within 24 hours.
Anthony Victoria
Well, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.
Lilia Garcia-Brower
Thank you so very much.
Anthony Victoria
Lilia Garcia-Brower is California's Labor Commissioner. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and supported through IECF's CIELO Fund. Join us again next week.
For KVCR News, I'm Anthony Victoria.
