March 2024
The State of California Invests $18 Million to Prosecute Wage Theft. The Department of Industrial Relations is currently recruiting inspectors and investigators to help enforce labor laws.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the Labor Commissioner’s Office have launched an $18 million Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant Program creating opportunities for local prosecutors to obtain funding for wage theft prosecutions. In 2024-2025 (Year 1) and 2025-2026 (Year 2), there will be two annual grant award cycles amounting to a total of $8,550,000 each. The Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant Program will provide grants to eligible public prosecutors to develop and implement a wage theft enforcement program. A public prosecutor is a district attorney, city attorney, county council, or any other city or county prosecutor in California.
“This funding will enhance the capacity of public prosecutors to act against wage theft – ensuring that labor laws are enforced, violators are prosecuted, and employers are deterred from engaging in practices such as unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations” – according the DIR. The message to employers is – “the State of California is committed to ensuring every Californian is fairly compensated for their labor.”
CalOSHA inspectors inspect workplaces for safety across California. Inspectors primarily investigate construction sites, healthcare facilities, manufacturing, agricultural operations but all industries that employ workers can be inspected.
DIR’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (California Labor Commissioner’s Office) combats wage theft, retaliation, and unfair competition by investigating allegations of illegal and unfair business practices, and its Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California.
