Months after a searing state audit found unused cash and thousands of backlogged cases, California’s Department of Industrial Relations hopes a jolt of new money will revive the government’s ability to combat wage theft in Long Beach and other nearby cities.
The program, titled the Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant Program, awarded $8.5 million among 17 local prosecutor offices in 12 municipalities across California, including a $414,000 grant to the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s office and $733,351 for the Los Angeles County District Attorney.
The money is intended to invigorate local agencies to meet with community stakeholders, investigate more claims, prosecute culpable employers and help recover unpaid earnings.
Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert said he will use the money to start an anti-wage theft program — a first for his office. The next four months will be spent as a planning phase, to learn “where enforcement is most needed and where violations are most egregious,” Haubert said.