How government agencies and community partners are joining forces to fight wage theft

In the face of widespread wage violations and limited resources, some labor enforcement agencies have created community enforcement programs to bolster their reach and improve effectiveness. Such programs have been implemented at the federal, state, and local levels. In these programs, worker and community-based organizations (CBOs) receive public funding to assist labor agencies in a range of functions, including providing education and outreach to marginalized worker communities and referring cases to enforcement agencies. 

This webinar will explain the concept of community enforcement programs; review the policy rationales for such programs, both for government enforcement agencies and for worker organizations/workers; explore existing and potential roles that community organizations can play in relation to labor standards enforcement; and more. We will hear from: 

• The authors of a 2023 report on this subject: Power in partnership How government agencies and community partners are joining forces to fight wage theft: Rachel Deutsch, Campaign Director, California Coalition for Worker Power and Terri Gerstein, Director, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative  
• Danielle Alvarado, Executive Director, Fair Work Center and Working Washington
• Steven Marchese, Director, City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards
• Jane Flanagan, Director, Illinois Department of Labor 

Please join this webinar to learn more about these collaborative partnerships for workers' rights enforcement.