San Diego County's Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement and the state's Labor Commissioner's Office Thursday announced a collaboration to return stolen wages to workers.
County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said wage theft costs local workers millions of dollars, but cited the new OLSE and a proposed wage theft fund as steps the county was taking to make things right.
"These rules help you because unscrupulous employers who cheat their employees have an unfair advantage and honest companies can't compete. So together we can change that," said Lawson-Remer.
The District Attorney's office opened a Workplace Justice Division in 2021.
"When your wages are stolen, if they're under $950 that is still a crime, a misdemeanor crime," said District Attorney Summer Stephan at Thursday's news conference. "But if it's over $950, that's a felony crime that your DA's office is going to bring and there's real accountability."
The state is also making changes to make sure workers know their rights especially those in underserved communities. It began an outreach campaign called "Reaching Every Californian."
"We need to get out of our offices and go out into the community and meet workers where they are. All workers, not just workers who know their rights," said Lilia García-Brower, labor commissioner of the California Department of Industrial Relations. "It is our obligation to get to them because if workers don't understand their rights, how are they going to exercise them? So outreach is foundational to enforcement."
Brandon Butler, deputy director of the county's Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement, said the county has implemented anti-wage theft rules and created the Fair Place Collaborative "bringing together both businesses and worker advocacy organizations and stakeholders to help chart the course for our office," he said.
Earlier this week, two San Diego-area companies, who federal authorities say underpaid their Mexican employees, agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and damages.
The two companies — Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. and ACV Logistics Inc. — paid employees in Mexican pesos at rates well below the federal minimum wage, according to a Department of Labor statement.
A consent judgment entered earlier this month in San Diego federal court orders Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. and its owner to pay $1 million in back wages and damages to 35 workers. The employer must also pay $26,215 in civil penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The Department of Labor said that between 2019 and 2021, Mexican workers at its San Diego warehouses were denied minimum wage and overtime wages, were paid as low as $3.24 per hour, and were typically paid flat rates of $180-$200 per week for work-weeks that averaged nearly 45 hours.
ACV Logistics Inc. agreed to a settlement with the Department of Labor to pay $70,104 in back wages and damages to 15 workers, and was assessed a $12,105 penalty. The department said that a review of payroll records from 2020 to 2022 showed some of its workers were paid as low as $2.43 an hour.
The Department of Labor said over $2.2 million has been collected from San Diego employers since 2021 for similar labor practices.
For additional information on workers' rights and how to file a claim, you can reach the county Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement through its advice line at 619-985-1597 or at OLSE@sdcounty.ca.gov.
