San Jose wanted to loosen wage theft requirements to allow more contractors to work for the city, but councilmembers pushed back.
City staff recommended scaling back the city’s wage theft policy for public contacts, but the City Council voted unanimously to strengthen it at a Tuesday meeting. Councilmember Dev Davis was absent.
Wage theft occurs when an employer fails to pay workers minimum wage or overtime, takes away their tips or does not allow workers to take meal and rest breaks. If the employer is found in violation they are required to pay the employee for lost wages.
Before the vote, city law automatically disqualified contractors who bid for jobs in San Jose if they had two or more wage theft violations in the past five years, or at least one unpaid wage theft judgment—excluding public works contracts.
Under the updated policy, public works contracts will be included. In addition, contractors with a history of wage theft could be exempt from disqualifications if they create a process for workers to make complaints or allow for a collective bargaining agreement. The policy now expands city searches for violations from only examining violations filed with the California Labor Commissioner’s office to include Civil Wage and Penalty Assessments and Bureau of Field Enforcement citations.
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei and Councilmembers David Cohen and Domingo Candelas led the push to strengthen the policy.
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