San Diego County program offers financial aid to workers with successful wage-theft claims

Wage theft is receiving renewed focus after local and state officials gathered at the County Administration Building to denounce the practice of withholding wages employees earned.

The illegal practice has shortchanged many workers across the state, authorities said on Tuesday.

“When somebody goes into a store and steals a thousand dollar’s worth of stuff, they are held accountable, but when they steal somebody's wages that they are depending on to raise their family, to put food on the table, they don’t think of it the same way,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said. "That it is still theft, it’s still illegal and it’s something we are going to take account of."

State funds are impacted by the illegal practice as well.

“We know from studies [that] it’s in the millions, and we know that in just tax fraud, where they are not paying the employee taxes, it’s about $9 billion in the state of California, and it’s a huge drain on the economy,” Stephan said.

The county has created a program to help people impacted by wage theft.

“In May of 2023, the board of Supervisors approved the Workplace Justice Fund, a pioneering program that offers financial assistance to workers who have filed a wage theft claim, won a legal judgment from the Labor Commissioners Office but have never been paid by their employer,” said Branden Butler, who is the director of the County Office of Ethics, Compliance and Labor Standards.

Sandra Cruz, who is an applicant of the program, spoke at the county’s news conference about her experience with wage theft after working as a housekeeper for a local employer.

“After a week, I insisted on getting paid before accepting any new jobs, any new homes to clean," Cruz said. "After multiple messages and texting, the employer finally called me, promising to deliver the check to me at my home if I continued to clean homes. She never came and I never got my paycheck."

Cruz supports the county’s effort to crack down on wage theft.

“Now, four years later, on the eve of the submittal of my case to the labor board, I received a letter stating that my case could be eligible for a pilot program called the Workplace Justice fund,” Cruz said.

County leaders urge people who believe they are the victims of wage theft to report it to the county district attorney's Office.