A report by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Labor and a Just Economy highlights the impact of community enforcement programs in tackling wage violations and enhancing labor standards.
The “Power in Partnership: How Government Agencies and Community Partners are Joining Forces to Fight Wage Theft" report, penned by Rachel Deutsch, campaign director for the California Coalition for Worker Power, and Terri Gerstein, reviews the current trend witnessing work centers and other non-profit organizations working with law enforcement to combat wage theft and other workplace violations.
“Building a culture of compliance with workplace standards requires empowering workers to monitor their employers and hold them accountable for violations,” Deutsch said in a June 8 news release. “Worker organizations have been supplying a critical bridge between labor standards agencies and low-wage, immigrant workers for many years — now it’s essential these organizations are sustainably resourced for this work and that their insights shape program design."
These initiatives collaborate with worker and community organizations to bolster enforcement agencies, according to the report.
The report details community enforcement programs and outlines the thought driving the creation of these tools, outlining the benefits programs offer to employees, worker organizations and government authorities. By spanning the divide between at-risk employees and agencies, community-based organizations (CBOs) offer key support in outreach, education and case referrals for the at-risk populations that could fall prey to labor manipulations.
These partnerships offer benefits for government enforcement entities, and CBOs are key to contacting workers who may not know about their rights, the report noted. These agencies also have the cultural capacity and language skills to provide education to key worker demographics beyond the agency’s ability.
The CBOs also provide help during an investigation, setting up a line of communication between witnesses, updating the status of reviews and tracking down workers who are owed money, the report said. They have information about industries and can weed out potential targets.
CBOs and worker groups taking part in community enforcement efforts can realize key advantages, with participation and funding provided through the programs to drive increases in granting access to services and capacity, allowing them to handle employer violations, according to the report.
Working with officials and government agencies helps build relationships and creates credibility among workers, employers and the overall community, the report noted. The CBOs secure key insight into government labor standards oversight and can shape their feedback on policies, procedures and protocols, giving a voice to workers in shaping policy.
The report also reviews current and possible roles the CBOs can play within programs, including outreach and education for immigrant workers and at-risk populations that could face hurdles in reporting violations. CBOs can serve as navigators through the process, ensuring workers can find their way through the bureaucracy of making wage claims while working on strategies for industries with multiple violations and helping collect and distribute restitution.
The report also drives program design, and it spotlighted key points CBOs and agencies could tackle when updating or rolling out enforcement efforts, including establishing communication challenges between the agencies and CBOs, setting aside enough funding to support activities and provide sufficient pay for staff, streamlining administrative procedures and seeking out additional methods of funding, including forfeiture funds from district attorneys and donations.
The report also focused on the need to have several plans in place to fully enforce workplace protections. While partnerships can tear down roadblocks to the reporting of violations, they shouldn’t replace enforcement efforts by trained government investigators.
Sufficient funding, enforcement resources and impactful penalties for violating employers can help protect workers’ rights. The report also seeks additional research to determine if the efforts are paying off for these workers and the at-risk communities at large.
While wage violations remain an issue, the report can provide a glimpse at the potential for enforcement efforts to bring justice and level the labor playing field, according to the news release.
“For standards to truly rise for all workers, we need all parts of a continuum of enforcement to be activated," Brian Walsh, director of the Minneapolis Labor Standards Enforcement Division, said in the release.
