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LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT: Oakland City Council approves resolutions to establish the Department of Workplace & Enforcement Standards

Photo credit: City of Oakland


On Tuesday June 9, 2020, the City Council voted to adopt two resolutions: one establishing the Department of Workplace and Enforcement Standards (DWES) and the other authorizing the hiring of the Chief Officer of the new Department.  The council meeting and vote can be viewed HERE.

This represents a milestone in a years' long campaign for stronger worker protections and enforcement led by the Lift Up Oakland coalition.  The coalition helped to pass Measure FF in 2015 establishing Oakland's minimum wage ordinances.  In 2018, a similar coalition helped to pass Measure Z which established protections for hotel workers and mandated that the City would establish DWES by July 1, 2020 to enforce all employment laws in effect in the City.  The same coalition requested full funding in the 2018 budget cycle but only received partial funding for staffing in the final approved budget.  Budget allocations to accompany the resolution for hiring will be discussed by city council in the mid-cycle budget revision that will be adopted by June 30.

The vision of DWES is similar to San Francisco's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE).  It is meant to operate as a separate city department with focus on full and effective enforcement of all workplace and employment laws including Measures Z and FF.   The local offices are a parallel of the state Labor Commissioner's office which has a Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.  The DWES is authorized to accept, investigate, and to adjudicate claims ranging from wage theft to retaliation.  The Department's Chief Officer must be a labor advocate with adequate experience to oversee staff that will make decisions that can be appealed to the superior court and tasked with enforcement of city, state, and federal laws that are ever changing.  The Dept is also envisioned to provide educational assistance to employers and compliance training as well as worker education.

Full and equal enforcement of the law protects workers and ensures that businesses/employers are accountable and on a level playing field.  Given the growing unemployment rate as well as the impacts of COVID-19 and social uprisings on workers and businesses, DWES could not be more timely.  Oakland is on its way to strong leadership in labor and employment.

--Victory for Oakland
**All photos/content are my own unless otherwise cited.



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