Workers' Rights Program
Workers’ Rights Program
La Raza Centro Legal’s Workers’ Rights Program (WRP) for over 30 years has focused on protecting the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers. We advocate on behalf of very-low wage workers including domestic workers, restaurant workers, car wash workers, construction workers and other low wage immigrant workers who have been cheated out of rightfully earned wages or otherwise exploited by unscrupulous employers.
Services provided by our Workers’ Rights Program:
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Protects the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers who have been exploited by unscrupulous employers.
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Assists workers with the enforcement of San Francisco’s labor ordinances, including minimum wage violations, paid parental leave, lactation in the work place, family friendly leave and fair chance ordinance, among others.
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Represents workers with misclassification, wage and hour cases or wage theft, unlawful employment discrimination as the placing of English-only policies in the workplace, and sexual harassment and retaliation cases in the workplace.
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Provide education and outreach.
We assist workers before the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) with the enforcement of San Francisco’s labor ordinances, including minimum wage violations, paid parental leave, family friendly leave, and sick leave. We represent workers before the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (DLSE) through complaints regarding employment misclassification, wage and hour theft, overtime, meal and rest breaks, discrimination and retaliation; the Department of Labor (DOL) through complaints regarding wage theft; the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) through complaints as to unlawful discrimination in employment cases, i.e. national origin discrimination (as in English-only policies); and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) through complaints regarding sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The WRP is part of a citywide effort to enforce workers rights’, we collaborate with the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) and partner with other legal service organizations and worker centers through the SF Workers’ Rights Community Collaborative (WRCC), a coalition between OLSE and partner agencies such as the Chinese Progressive Action, the Asian Law Caucus, the Filipino Community Center, Dolores Street, South of Market Action Network, and Young Workers United ensuring that low-wage workers receive the San Francisco’s minimum wage, lactation accommodation, paid sick leave and health care benefits. In addition, we are also part of the Coalition of Low-Wage and Immigrant Worker Advocates (CLIWA), a state-wide collaborative of non-profit labor and employment advocates, to enhance our work with respect to wage-and-hour cases, discrimination and retaliation before the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and which strategizes for the expansion of necessary protections of low-wage and immigrant workers through the legislative process.
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We take on cases and provide education and outreach to ensure low-wage workers receive their lawfully earned wages, receive assistance in combating unlawful discriminatory and unfair business practices. We have been able to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in various wage-and-hour, retaliation, and discrimination cases through settlements and judgments on behalf of restaurant workers, construction workers, car wash workers, and domestic workers, among others.
RESOURCES
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Video on Workers’ health and safety rights during Covid
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Know Your Rights, The Workers’ Ten Commandments
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Clients’ Stories
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SF Office of Labor Standards Enforcement
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Legal Aid at Work – free legal services for workers
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Families First Response Act – Federal Employees
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Families First Response Act – Non-Federal Employees