ProGov21 Policy Library

Raising the Floor Milwaukee: Better Wages and Labor Standards for Low-Wage Workers

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2013

Level City or Town

State(s) Wisconsin

Source Oakland City Council

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines the decline of Milwaukee's economy over the past 30 years and evaluates the city's current challenges including high unemployment, low job quality, extreme racial inequality, and central city economic isolation. The report recommends overcoming these challenges...

Wage Theft: A quiet crisis in Ohio: in absence of state investment, cities can take the lead

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) Ohio

Source Policy Matters Ohio

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Finance & Procurement

Wage Theft causes large amount of national loss each year. Ohio spends few resources on wage investigation, and hence cities can take steps to prevent wage theft within their jurisdictions. Cities can use procurement, licensing, tax enforcement, and tax incentives....

10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2012

Level City or Town, State

State(s) All States

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Public Safety, Health

The U.S. economy is headed towards greater inequality as middle-class jobs are becoming increasingly scarce, while low wage jobs are growing. This report details ten proposals to strengthen the economy for the long term by creating “good” jobs and addressing the economic insecurity...

Build a Better South: Construction Working Conditions in the Southern U.S.

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2017

Level City or Town

State(s) Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Public Safety, Health

As construction activity in the southern United States continues to flourish, concern over workers’ health and safety grows. Economic hardships, few or no opportunities for career advancement, unstable work, injuries, and even death on the job are commonplace for construction workers...

Los Angeles Ordinance No. 178084

Type Ordinance

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source City of Los Angeles

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Hotels in the LAX area have instituted the practice of adding a "service charge" of 15% to 20% of the bill for banquets and other large group events. Some hotels pass a portion of the service charge to the workers who actually performed the services, while other hotels retain the...

Testimony_ City should take a stand against wage theft

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2019

Level City or Town

State(s) Ohio

Source Policy Matters Ohio

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

The federal enforcement of wage theft is weak, causing harm to workers. The Cincinnati City Council can start to stand against wage theft by adopting Just Pay ordinance, which allows local enforcement of wage and hour laws and protects employers from unfair comprtition....

Cities and Jobs: Local Strategies for Improving Job Quality and Access

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2008

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source COWS

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines methods for cities to improve job quality in their communities by using city regulatory power to establish wage floors and other employment standards, regulating domestic-employee placing agencies, using city resources to enforce existing government employment...

20 Kansas City Wage Theft Ordinance 040964

Type Ordinance

Year 2004

Level City or Town

State(s) Missouri

Source Council of Kansas City

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Children & Families, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance redefines "stealing" to include wage theft. A person may be criminally prosecuted if they refuse or fail to pay for the labor or services provided by an individual pursuant to an agreement....

Wages & Benefits Roadmap

Type Roadmap

Year 2021

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source ProGov21

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Presently, the average American worker is unfairly compensated for their labor. In response to this challenge, ProGov21's updated Job Quality Roadmap provides information and resources that enable the creation of a healthy and productive workforce. It calls on local governments to...

Job Quality Roadmap

Type Roadmap

Year 2022

Level City or Town, County

State(s) All States

Source ProGov21

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Health, Public Safety

ProGov21's updated Job Quality Roadmap provides information and resources that enable the creation of safe and equitable working conditions for all workers. Presently, American jobs offer low pay, unpredictable hours, and little stability, while workers in these jobs suffer from dangerous...

California’s Hero Labor Law: The Private Attorneys General Act Fights Wage Theft and Recovers Millions from Lawbreaking Corporations

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2020

Level State

State(s) California

Source Partnership for Working Families

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Though California has enacted numerous laws that help workers recover stolen wages, access paid leave from work, and enforce safe and humane working conditions, such legislation fails to deliver economic security to working Californians unless accompanied by strong enforcement mechanisms....

Grand Theft Paycheck: The Large Corporations Shortchanging their Workers’ Wages

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2018

Level State, National

State(s) All States

Source Good Jobs First

Policy Areas Economic Justice

Many of the largest companies operating in the United States have increased their profits by forcing employees to work off the clock or by depriving them of required overtime pay. An analysis of federal and state court records shows that these corporations have been embroiled in hundreds...

Miami FL Wage Theft Ordinance No. 10-16

Type Ordinance

Year 2010

Level City or Town

State(s) Florida

Source Mayors Innovation Project

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Finance & Procurement, Children & Families

This ordinance details the procedure for wage theft complaints in Miami-Dade County, including the process of filing wage theft complaints, employer responses, subpoenas, conciliation, and hearings before a hearing officer. Moreover, this ordinance also outlines enforcement practices...

Wage Theft and Workplace Violations in Los Angeles

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2010

Level City or Town, County

State(s) California

Source Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This report examines violations of labor laws in Los Angeles by using survey data from 1,815 workers. The report finds violations in the areas of minimum wage, overtime, off the clock work, and meal and rest breaks in a wide variety of industries by both large and small employers....

2012 Broward County Ordinance 32 Protecting Workers from Wage Theft

Type Ordinance

Year 2012

Level County

State(s) Florida

Source Broward County Commission

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This ordinance provides a variety of worker protections against wage theft. A complaint for non-payment of earned wages, if not resolved through conciliation, is heard by the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Professional Standards. If a violation is established, the hearing...

2011 Seattle Wage Theft Ordinance No. 123596

Type Ordinance

Year 2011

Level City or Town

State(s) Washington

Source City of Seattle

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance outlines the procedure for wage theft complaints in Seattle, WA. It defines wage theft and provides a list of circumstances that may considered when determining if a person intended to commit wage theft. It also allows the City to refuse to issue or revoke any business...

Building Robust Labor Standards Enforcement Regimes in Our Cities and Counties

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2015

Level County

State(s) All States

Source National Employment Law Project

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Children & Families, Finance & Procurement

An unprecedented number of cities and counties around the nation have adopted a local minimum wage that is higher than the federal wage floor. Today, more than 20 cities and counties have a higher local minimum wage; 11 were approved in 2014 alone. This wave of local minimum wage...

2015 El Paso Ordinance 018370 Responding to Wage Theft Complaints

Type Ordinance

Year 2015

Level City or Town

State(s) Texas

Source City of El Paso

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance outlines the procedure for wage theft complaints in El Paso, TX. In particular, this ordinance creates a wage theft database, maintained by a Wage Theft Coordinator designated by the City Manager, to identify employers with a wage theft adjudication record, establish...

2015 Los Angeles Ordinance 183613 Creating a Wage Enforcement Division

Type Ordinance

Year 2015

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source City of Los Angeles

Policy Areas Economic Justice

This ordinance establishes a new Wage Enforcement Division to enforce violations of wage theft in Los Angeles, establish penalties, and grant authority to the City of Los Angeles Police Commission to deny, revoke or suspend a police permit issued or requested by an employer found...

Wage Theft

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2016

Level County

State(s) All States

Source State Innovation Exchange

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Children & Families

Wage theft is a catchall term for a range of situations in which an employer fails to pay an employee, and it can take many forms - from employers paying employees less than the minimum wage or failing to pay overtime to withholding tips, not providing employees with their final paycheck,...

Innovation and the City

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2016

Level City or Town

State(s) All States

Source Center for an Urban Future

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Environment & Natural Resources, Energy, Democracy & Governance, Children & Families, Health, Housing, Public Safety, Education, Transportation & Mobility

In recent years, cities have become the drivers of government innovation. As urban growth has exploded over the past half century - increasing from a third to nearly 60 percent of world population today - local officials have been forced to solve problems and generate new ideas, policies,...

2016 Los Angeles Ordinance Establishing a Living Wage for Airport Workers

Type Ordinance

Year 2016

Level City or Town

State(s) California

Source Council of the City of Los Angeles

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights

This revision to the City's living wage ordinance strengthens and extends the regulations for airport employees. On July 1,2016, the wage for Airport Employees shall be no less than $11.68 with health benefits and no less than $16.73 without health benefits....

2015 Philadelphia Ordinance 150741 Creating a Wage Theft Coordinator

Type Ordinance

Year 2015

Level City or Town

State(s) Pennsylvania

Source City of Philadelphia

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance creates a wage theft coordinator for the City and provides definitions, duties, penalties, feed, procedural requirements, a private right of action and other related items regarding wage theft....

St. Petersburg Ordinance 161-H Responding to Wage Theft Complaints

Type Ordinance

Year 2015

Level City or Town

State(s) Florida

Source City of St. Petersburg

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Finance & Procurement

This ordinance details the procedure for wage theft complaints in St. Petersburg, FL, including the process of filing wage theft complaints, employer responses, conciliation, and hearings before a hearing officer. Moreover, this ordinance also outlines enforcement practices and retaliation...

The Top 5 Enforcement Tools for Local Minimum Wage Laws

Type Policy Brief or Report

Year 2015

Level County

State(s) All States

Source National Employment Law Project

Policy Areas Economic Justice, Civil Rights, Children & Families

As the real value of wages generally continues to decline and income inequality worsens, raising the minimum wage must be a priority. However, the success of any local minimum wage law in delivering higher wages for workers will depend on effective enforcement of that law....

ProGov21 Policy Library

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