For example, far too many workers do not receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. One study found that roughly 600,000 Californians eligible for minimum wage lose an average of $3,400 each to wage theft every year — at a cost of $2 billion annually. In addition, a statewide survey funded by Irvine found that nearly half of all California workers face a host of difficult financial choices regularly, such as putting off seeing a doctor or purchasing medications, paying the rent or a mortgage, or paying a monthly bill.
Further, the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis have been devastating, erasing job gains and plunging the state into recession levels of job loss, with workers of color affected disproportionately. For essential workers, access to paid sick days, personal protective equipment, and other safety and health protocols have been significant challenges.
The Fair Work initiative seeks to ensure greater fairness and opportunity for workers in California by:
Fair Work grantmaking is informed by the following impact goals: