After the mass shooting in Half Moon Bay in January, the deplorable conditions in which farmworkers live and work and how they are paid came to national attention. One of the points that was highlighted in the subsequent media coverage was the low pay the mushroom farmworkers were receiving.
In his trip to Half Moon Bay, Gov. Gavin Newsom saw firsthand the disgraceful working and living conditions of the farmworkers, noting that many were getting paid as little $9 an hour — well below the state minimum wage of $15.50 an hour.
California is often called the “breadbasket” of the world due to its bountiful harvests. In San Diego County, there are also agriculture and field workers who contribute to the state’s abundance of commodities.
California is able to yield such abundance, in part, due to the hard work of a group that is often unnoticed and unappreciated: farmworkers. Unfortunately, this group, which is so vital to our state, also includes some of our community’s most vulnerable and taken advantage workers. They are often underpaid.
My office has been at the forefront of protecting workers’ rights. In 2020, we started the Workplace Justice Unit to investigate and prosecute employers who steal labor from their employees. Recent legislation made it clear that wage theft can be a felony crime.
Overtime pay is one of the main issues that affects farmworkers. In 2016, historic legislation was signed into law that gradually eliminated the farmworker exception that exempted...
A California mobile PET scan provider is resolving a long-running U.S. healthcare fraud case tied to physician referral payments. The settlement covers allegations that compensation paid to cardio...