SIGN UP

unpaid & unaware

Wage theft and labor rights enforcement in San Diego City and County
Download Report

Wage theft is a nationwide problem, as employers violate labor laws and fail to pay workers the money they have earned. In this report we surveyed more than 900 workers to find out what kinds of wage theft people are experiencing in San Diego. We found that the problem is pervasive and workers knowledge is extremely limited, workers are unpaid and unaware.

This report is based on a survey conducted in November and December 2023 of 942 workers, 92% of whom were also students. Respondents were asked about their experience working in San Diego County in the previous 12 months. This report is a collaboration between CPI and the Center for Community Research and Engagement at San Diego State University.

Key Findings:

  • Wage theft was a rampant problem for the workers in our study. Of 843 hourly employees surveyed, 87% experienced wage theft during the previous 12 months. Moreover, about half regularly* experienced wage theft.
  • Minimum wage violations were widespread among survey participants who worked in the City of San Diego, where the minimum wage is higher than the state minimum. Over 30% of the hourly employees working in the city were paid less than the 2023 minimum of $16.30. Of the hourly employees working outside of the city, where the 2023 minimum wage was $15.50, almost one in ten were paid under this amount.
  • Sick day violations were common among survey participants. Of the more than 900 workers surveyed (both hourly and salaried), approximately a third either did not get any sick days or were retaliated against for taking them. In addition, over half of respondents did not know how many paid sick days they could earn at their job, and most of those did not know if they could earn them at all.
  • Lack of knowledge about wage theft and how to seek remedies was pervasive among survey participants. Of the participants who reported having experienced at least one illegal practice, 87% did not know they had experienced wage theft. Even more alarming is the fact that 82% of those that reported they had regularly* experienced violations did not recognize it as wage theft. Moreover, almost 90% of workers did not know where to file a complaint. Similarly, almost 90% had never heard of the City or County Offices for Labor Standards Enforcement.
*Regularly includes anyone who had minimum wage violations, which occur with every hour of work, and/or answered that they often experienced one or more of the wage theft practices listed on page 3 of this report.

Discover more from Center on Policy Initiatives

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Justice for Warehouse Workers/ Justicia Para Trabajadores de almacen