Wage Law

The one industry that the Labor Commissioner likes to pursue as much as the car wash industry, is the agriculture industry. In September, the DLSE issued citations totaling over $269,000 in fines to agriculture businesses in a statewide two-day enforcement sweep as part of an ongoing effort to address illegal operations in the underground economy. Twenty-four teams of investigators conducted the two-day sweeps on Sept. 24-25. Out of 194 inspections, 35 agriculture businesses were cited. Twenty-five agriculture businesses received stop work notices until they can provide workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. The violations included failure to: Provide work permits for minors; Failure to pay the minimum wage; Provide employees with an itemized wage deduction statement; Pay overtime wages; Pay the annual registration with the Commissioner’s Office and Provide workers’ compensation.

You'll recognize this quote from yesterday's post:

“Our efforts are directed at illegally operating businesses as part of the underground economy,” said California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. “These illegal operations have a negative impact on our state’s economy, do not provide the protection workers are legally afforded, and have an unfair advantage over competitors who do follow the law.”

Exploited farm workers are a good political subject matter. Sacramento notices those, too.