In the nation, San Francisco is the city with the highest minimum wage and also happens to be the only major city which has an agency for wage enforcement. This local compensation was put to effect back in 2004 and one thing of note is that while employers are required to pay their workers minimum wage, they are not required to have a report of how many they should be paying it to.
San Francisco has their Office of Labor Standards Enforcement which is the agency that is most engaged when it comes to the issue of wages and is tasked with enforcing just practices when it comes to labor concerns. However, they have confirmed that they have never had a concrete picture of the extent of the low-wage work in the city.
Currently, San Francisco’s minimum wage is at $10.55 per hour but after ten years of having had the minimum wage boost passed, ongoing violations when it comes to wage and labor compliance issues still suggest that this policy in the city cannot bring out all the workers from a state of poverty.
According to the vice president San Francisco’s Labor Council, Conny Ford, passing this minimum wage ordinance alone is not enough to make sure that everyone gets fair payment inside the workplace. Ford also said that the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement can’t keep up when it comes to cases of wage theft in the city. For this reason, the office relies on groups to refer wage theft victims to resolve the issue.
A lot of activists with anti-poverty concerns as well as public officials fight for the rights of the employees in San Francisco who earn below the mandated $10.55 per hour. The numbers of underpaid employees reach thousands, and after ten years of having the law passed, this is unacceptable.
Since there is no specific local agency which is responsible for tracking minimum wage jobs, the enforcement of this law has been relying on getting actual complaints from workers to get information. However, not much come out to get vital information. This is because when employees do report cases of not being paid the right amount, they risk getting conflicts with their employers such as getting some sort of retaliation or worse-- permanently losing their job.
This year, the Congress is beginning to debate issues on the national minimum wage having President Obama’s proposal of the minimum to be at $9 per hour. According to the director of San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, the great part of the violation cases when it comes to wages is connected to the underground economy where workers are paid in cash and employers fail to accurately track the numbers of hours worked.
Forty-eight percent of these complaints are from the workers who belong to the food service work sector such as baristas, waiters, dishwashers, and cooks. Other employees who are often illegally paid include constructions workers, security guards, health aides for home employment, and other hotel employees.
The fear of the workers is mainly to lose their job if they come forward. Despite the current state of economy, and even after being aware of the violations, a lot of these individuals are just thankful to have a job and would like to keep it that way. You can learn more about labor law and practice by clicking here http://www.easybusinessposters.com/.
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