FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — The Fresno City Council is considering a new policy aimed at combating wage theft throughout the city.
Councilmember Tyler Maxwell and City Attorney Andrew Janz are pushing for a dedicated division focused on prosecuting these cases locally.
Common forms of wage theft include employers failing to pay overtime, not providing required breaks, not paying minimum wage and misclassifying workers as independent contractors.
Currently, workers can file claims of wage theft with the state labor commissioner’s office.
If this new policy is approved, the city of Fresno would become the first in California to pursue both civil and criminal action against employers committing wage theft, under Assembly Bill 594.
“Working-class families are the backbone of this community,” Maxwell said. “In order for our city to do well, our working-class families must succeed. In order for our local economy to thrive, our working-class families must succeed. So if our working-class families are being taken advantage of, that impacts not just them, but all of us who call Fresno home.”
The labor commissioner will be given the opportunity to first move forward on any local cases.
The city council will consider the policy at Thursday’s meeting.
If approved, the prosecution team will be able to start on April 1, and workers will be able to file complaints on the city attorney’s website.
