Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to, among other things, foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment.
This bill would require the department, upon appropriation of funds for this purpose, to establish and maintain the California Workplace Outreach Program to promote awareness of, and compliance with, workplace protections that affect workers. The bill would require the department to issue a competitive request for application to qualified organizations, as defined, to provide education and outreach services to workers and to assist workers to assert their workplace rights.
This bill would require qualified organizations to consult with the department regarding priority topics for outreach and education and to consult with the department and specified other agencies to create education and outreach materials informing workers of their rights on priority topics and training materials for workers and organizations. The bill would require the materials to be translated into non-English languages, to be determined by each qualified organization in consultation with the department, as appropriate for the geographic region the qualified organization serves. The bill would require the department and qualified organizations to meet at least twice a year to coordinate outreach, education, and enforcement efforts.