The city of Oakland must do right by Oakland voters and address racial and economic inequality by ensuring the creation of a strong and effective Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES).

The Department was created by Oakland voters through Measure Z, which passed overwhelmingly with 76% of the vote in November 2018. The law mandates that the City of Oakland establish this department by July 1, 2020, yet the city has been slow on implementation over the last 18 months.

Oakland has been a leader in establishing strong labor standards — with overwhelming voter support. But workers continue to experience violations of their rights due to the lack of robust enforcement. California’s Department of Labor Standards Enforcement estimated that its Oakland-based office has a backlog of 2-2.5 years for wage theft claims.  This is unacceptable for workers, and the City has an opportunity to make a difference by standing up the DWES and ensuring adequate funding, structure, and resources to build a home for Oakland workers and support the enforcement body we all voted to enact.

Wage theft is rampant and disproportionately impacts low-wage workers, who in Oakland are predominantly people of color. In California, 19.2% of all low-wage workers experience minimum wage violations, with affected workers losing an average of $3,400 in unpaid wages per year. The workers most impacted by these violations are the same folks our city claims to protect and welcome: Black residents, women, parents, and immigrants. In Oakland, the per capita income is $29,405 for Black families, $20,535 for Latino families, and $35,305 for Asian families – compared to $72,775 for white families, according to census data. Strengthening enforcement of Oakland’s existing laws is one important way to close these gaps.

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COVID-19 has demonstrated that some of our lowest paid workers are our most essential.  Oakland needs to protect and support workers who are on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, and are among the hardest hit economically. Enforcing Oakland paid sick days laws will ensure that workers can stay home when they are sick without losing wages or their jobs. This is critical to saving workers lives, slowing the spread, and keeping us all safe.

By setting up the Department, Oakland can play an important role in addressing systemic racial and economic inequality and inequities, and support working families and communities of color by curbing abusive and rampant wage theft, and ensuring that workers’ rights are being upheld.  The Department would emulate best practices in labor standards enforcement that have proven effective in other cities. This includes proactively investigating claims of violations of workers’ rights policies and educating workers and employers on local policies that protect and support frontline service workers who hold up our economy.

When all employers follow the law, then businesses have a level playing field.  Wage theft can have significant economic and fiscal impacts on local economies and government revenues. Not only are low-wage households more likely to spend their earned income rather than contribute to savings, they are more likely to purchase goods and services from within the local economy. When victims of wage theft spend less money patronizing local businesses, those businesses are forced to cut spending on labor and supplies. One study modeling these ripple effects found that every $1 million in wage theft eradicates 8.6 jobs and $371,000 in local economic spending. Strengthening enforcement of Oakland’s workplace laws will support a swifter and more inclusive economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oakland demands a Department that protects its most vulnerable workers. Workers’ rights are civil rights and human rights. The City already approved funds to help initiate the Department during the 2019 budget cycle. Now the City must officially establish the Department and start the hiring process for the chief officer and make this promise real.

City council is scheduled to vote on two ordinances required to set up the Department of Workforce and Employment Standards on June 9th.

By Allyssa Victory, Labor and Civil Rights Attorney

Posts by By Allyssa Victory, Labor and Civil Rights Attorney