San Francisco Board Of Supervisors Tackles Wage Theft
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Legislation to combat wage theft in San Francisco is picking up momentum at the Board of Supervisors.
Thousands of workers have been denied earnings since the city passed a minimum wage law in 2004. San Francisco has a minimum wage of $9.92, but as the supervisors' Budget and Finance Committee heard, it is not always adhered to.
"We work 12 hours a day," an anonymous caregiver told the committee. "We are paid $60 per day; the equivalent of $5 per hour, and no overtime pay."
Her story is apparently not unusual either. Last week the city attorney sued a Chinatown restaurant that allegedly paid its help only three dollars an hour.
Now there's legislation by Supervisors Eric Mar and David Campos to crackdown on wage theft.
KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:
"Workers have the right to be paid for all of the hours that they work, and to be treated fairly on the job," said Mar.
"It's a problem even in a forward-thinking progressive city like San Francisco," added Campos.
The city has recovered about $4.4 million in unpaid wages since the minimum wage law was enacted. This legislation, which is set to be passed out of committee next week, would give investigators more tools to ferret out wage theft and create new penalties for violators.
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