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San Mateo County has launched a new Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement to tackle wage theft and help workers understand their rights.
Approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, the initiative includes a multilingual hotline, education campaign, and enforcement powers to issue citations and penalties.
“Wage theft is a huge problem here in California, and particularly in our county,” said Carolina Babbidge, a deputy county attorney. “It disproportionately harms minority groups, especially in construction, hospitality, domestic work and agriculture.”
“I feel this very close to my heart,” Babbidge added, “because I’m an immigrant myself, so I know the difficulties that this represents for people who do not have the means to hire an attorney.”
The county’s goal is to support both workers and employers. “Every San Mateo County worker now has a place they can go to locally to receive help and seek justice,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller.
Supervisor Jackie Speier said the ordinance “gives teeth to the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement to go after employers underpaying or not paying their workers.”
More information is available at www.smcgov.org/OLSE or by calling 1-866-870-7725.
