The Wage Justice Center

Legal services & representation The Wage Justice Center (hereinafter "wjc")assists low-wage workers recover their stolen wages and enforce their judgments through various legal mechanisms. We represent low-wage workers who have experienced Wage theft, which refers to unscrupulous employers who fail to pay workers all their wages earned. Wjc provides direct representation and partners with The California labor commissioner to enforce judgments. We have developed innovative legal theories such as commercial collection tools, to hold exploitative employers accountable for illegal business practices. Wjc has recovered approximately 20.6 million in back wages to about 6,683 workers in our fourteen-year history. Wjc is The only non-profit that specializes in judgment enforcement in California. The work that we do is critical in holding employers accountable. We do not charge for our services and represent workers who would otherwise be unable to find representation.

Community engagement The Wage Justice Center educates low-wage workers about their rights, strategies and best practices for collection of their unpaid wages. We increase The overall knowledge base of legal advocates- including public interest attorneys, organizers and community activists-about applying complex corporate collections law to Wage theft collection for low-wage workers.

Day laborer project The Wage Justice Center provides specialized legal services for day laborers who experienced Wage theft. California law provides a tool referred to as a "mechanics lien", which allows a laborer to place a lien on The property on which they worked and were not paid for their labor. We represent clients who self-refer and work closely with community partners, such as day labor centers, that also refer cases. We've returned approximately 365,044 in back wages to about 309 day laborers,in The seven years since we've pioneered use of this legal strategy for day laborers and construction workers.