During the COVID pandemic – 19 Retaliation against undocumented workers especially in residential care facilities for older adults has increased as many have been paid 80 dollars for a day of 24 hours.
“ It is a double blow because at receiving retaliation and being fired, they are left without a job and cannot access unemployment benefits like any other worker , ”said Yvonne García Medrano, an attorney with Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles during the videoconference. “Wage and Workers’ Rights for Immigrants” offered by Ethnic Media Services.
Bet Tzedek Legal Services of Los Angeles is a non-profit organization profit, one of the few that help undocumented workers and that focus on minimum wage workers.
“Workers are afraid to file a case for fear of losing their job. The reality is that many are fired when they report something ”, he stated.
He showed that in such a fragile labor market in this time of COVID – 19, employers have the upper hand.
“A law just passed in March that gives workers 80 COVID disease, but between January and March there was a gap and no one knew what the rights of workers were. Now the laws give a little more clarity to the worker on the licenses to be absent when they have the virus or to get vaccines. ”
He said that we are seeing many sad situations, but he hopes that this moment will be used to continue protecting workers, mainly those with minimum wages and the undocumented.
What is the advice for a worker to protect himself?
“Tell them what protections they have and if there is retaliation, it will be easier to show it if they put something in writing. The Labor Commission implemented a program where you can call with a complaint and ask the worker, do you want us to call the employer? and sometimes they don’t mention the employee. ”
What industries have mistreated workers the most during COVID – ?
“An industry full of women that hit very hard and fast was that of domestic workers because nobody wanted them to come back their houses. Many of them have lost their jobs and do not have unemployment protection. When the owners of the house get sick they don’t want to see them again for a while. We saw a lot of that. ”
Rigo Reyes, director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs from Los Angeles County, said that they understand that there is a lot of fear among communities to report their immigration status because they think that taking some actions could affect their status.
“We are the home of immigrants to receive information. Do not be afraid of immigration consequences for claiming that your hours are not paid. We have a lot of information on services and legal representation when things don’t work out. ”
Ordinances for workers
Rose Basmadzhyan, Chief of the Wage Enhancement Program Division of the Department of Business and Consumer Affairs, said that to protect workers and in response to COVID – 19, the Board of Supervisors has approved three ordinances.
One of them is the public health anti-retaliation ordinance to prevent retaliation by reporting public health violations, and covers everyone who works in the county except for cities that have your own health department.
“ The Department of Consumer Affairs investigates any violation of this anti-retaliation ordinance and we may impose a fine of more than $ 12, 00 0 ”.
Adds that the ordinance is valid for a period of three years. “In fact, if an employee has been injured and wishes to receive lost wages, our attorneys can help with this. And any retaliation for reporting, you can contact us. This is not just to violate public health orders. ”
A temporary ordinance that has been in the news a lot is Hero Pay (hero pay) which requires paying no less than $ 5 per hour as risk compensation in addition to base salary, and applies to employees of large food, household and drug stores in unincorporated areas of the county.
“The employee can receive an extra $ 5 per hour, but must request it in writing; and the employer must post the employee’s rights in a highly visible place in the business. This information is free of charge on our website. ”
How is the Hero Pay ordinance enforced?
“We investigated the violations and if applicable we can request that the employee be reinstated without retaliation. An employee has up to 3 years to recover lost wages and interest. ”
This ordinance is effective for 120 days from 25 February 2021.
The last ordinance is on minimum wage and is effective as of July 2016 for large employers and workers in unincorporated areas. It is currently $ 15 for large employers, and from $ 14, 25 for the little ones with 25 or fewer employees.
“ Starting in July, small businesses will have to pay $ 15 time to align with the big companies, and then the salary will be adjusted according to the price index ”.
It is also required that wages be posted in a place visible or give a copy to the employee.
“We don’t want people to hesitate to contact us if they are unsure of the jurisdiction. Sometimes there are cases that cross different jurisdictions, but we have an agreement with the agencies and the federal government to work together. ”
He stressed that with With the exception of the Hero Pay ordinance, the other two ordinances are permanent; and Public Health is not limited to COVID – 19.