S25DLSE016 Garment Worker Wage Claim Pilot Program

Assembly Bill 138, effective July 16, 2021, enacted Labor Code § 2693.1 - Garment Worker Wage Claim Pilot Program, which provided for the establishment of a Garment Worker Wage Claim pilot program. Subsequent to this, the legislature approved $8.5 million from the Labor Workforce Development Fund (LWDF) for DIR to provide support for the Garment Worker Wage Claim Pilot Program. Per AB 102 (Chapter 5), the funds shall be available for encumbrance or expenditure until June 30, 2030. Labor Code section 2693.1 specifically states: a. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the DIR shall establish and maintain a Garment Worker Wage Claim Pilot Program. DIR shall contract to provide resources to qualified organizations. The funds shall be used to increase the capacity and expertise of qualified organizations to improve the education of wage violations to garment workers and the securing of wage claims for garment workers who bring forward a wage claim pursuant to § 2673.1. The program shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following: 1. Education for garment workers including, but not limited to, minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, recordkeeping, wage adjudication, and retaliation. 2. Direct assistance by a worker advocate to assist workers who seek to file a wage claim. 3. Legal assistance to garment workers who seek to file a wage claim. b. All education and services provided in this section shall be at free and accessible to any garment worker in the State of California. c. For the purposes of this chapter, ¿qualified organization¿ means a legal aid or community-based nonprofit organization that has a minimum of five years¿ experience working with garment workers, advocating on behalf of garment workers, and a successful record of winning wage claims on behalf of garment workers that have been filed with DIR. The Legislature found that the ¿garment industry is rife with both egregious wage violations [but] not all workers who experience these violations have access to advocates in order to vindicate their rights, due to limited capacity of legal aid and community-based organizations.¿ Labor Code § 2693. The goal of Labor Code § 2693.1 is to increase the capacity and expertise of qualified organizations to increase garment worker education of workplace protections and the successful resolutions of wage claims for garment workers. -------------------- 4/22/2026: Addendum 1 Posted 4/27/2026: Addendum 2 Q&A and Addendum 3 Posted