Northern California EEEC Sweep Finds 30 of 47 Businesses Violating Labor Laws

One of the few areas in which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is interested in enforcing labor law violations is where the violations contribute to the underground economy. To combat such violations, the Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition conducts regular sweeps of certain high-violation industries, such as the agriculture industry. Last month, in a two-day enforcement sweep, investigators visited 47 agriculture businesses that included nurseries, greenhouses, landscapers, farm labor contractors, dairies and growers. Citations were issued to 30 of those businesses, resulting in $107,500 in penalties for failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance, failure to provide itemized deductions to employees and failure to provide worker’s permit documentation for minors.