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Guest Opinion | Next Steps Needed to Enforce Pasadena’s New Minimum Wage Law

Published on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 | 10:15 am
 

In early March, the Pasadena City Council took steps to close the wage gap when it voted unanimously 8-0 to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. The raise in pay will be made in step increments starting July 1, when the wage rises from the state minimum of $10 per hour to $10.50, matching the increases that will also take effect in LA City and LA County.

Last Friday, the City Staff released its recommendation on implementation and enforcement of the new ordinance. Acting City Manager Steve Mermell, Acting Assistant City Manager Nick Rodriguez and their respective staffs are to be commended for their excellent work. The full report will be presented to the City Council’s Economic Development and Technology (EDTech) Sub-committee at its meeting Thursday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers.

Members of Pasadenans for A Livable Wage (PLW), the community based coalition of faith based, non-profit and local labor organizations view the staff’s recommendation a realistic proposal. It validates that to make the minimum wage ordinance effective will require strong well-funded enforcement

Wage theft by employers results in millions of dollars stolen annually from employees. For example, employers sometimes do not pay employees for overtime, or employees may be asked to work before or after clocking in or out because a supervisor doesn’t want a manager to know how many hours are actually being worked. Some workers may not be paid for all hours worked or not paid the required minimum wage.

The solution as outlined in the staff’s recommendation calls for creation of a new Code Compliance Manager within the Department of Planning and Community Development. The manager “will oversee the overall program as well as investigate claims, develop reports and interface with the administrative enforcement.”

The proposal also outlines a communication plan to highlight employees’ rights and responsibilities as well as requirements of employers. The community outreach program identifies the immediate need to inform employers and employees of the new ordinance.

There are nearly 19,000 licensed businesses in Pasadena of which nearly 400 have 26 or more employees. The first year outreach will focus on those 400 businesses. Businesses with fewer than 26 employees get a one-year deferral.

The recommendation is thorough and identifies more duties in support of wage enforcement than could possibly be accomplished by the new code manager, and Consumer Action Teams located at Villa Parke and Jackie Robinson Centers, and existing staff in other departments. These departments are already tasked to do more with less since the cutbacks necessitated by the recession; and therefore to add wage enforcement may be an unreasonable expectation.

The report recognizes that fact and identifies a requirement for a Community Based Organization or CBO to support and complement the efforts of the City’s program. The report calls CBOs “essential partners in the outreach, education, and intake and complaint identification process.”

The report further states that a “CBO can build trust for governmental efforts.” It can also work to resolve worker complaints in a timely manner thereby avoiding more costly and time consuming steps.

I and other PLW steering committee members are pleased with the depth and breadth of the report and its recommendation. We call on the EDTech Sub-committee to make a motion to recommend the City Council accept the report and authorize approval of the budget of $204,000 that includes the Code Manager, community outreach and education and training by the City Attorney’s office. Additionally, we ask the EDTech Sub-committee to direct staff to ascertain a budget sufficient to fund a CBO to provide the additional required services as spelled out in the report.

City staff’s due diligence reinforces Pasadena’s blossoming reputation — as Peter Dreier coined it — a “City of Raises.”

Pasadena residents are encouraged to offer public comment in support of strong wage enforcement at the City Council’s Economic Development and Technology (EDTech) Sub-committee’s meeting Thursday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m.  in the Council Chambers.

 

Ed Washatka is Treasurer of ACT and one of ACT’s delegates to the coalition Pasadenans for A Livable Wage.

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