San Francisco passes minimum wage enforcement legislation

By Angela Hokanson, Bay City News Service

July 11, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - Legislation that would increase the resources available to enforce San Francisco's minimum wage law passed on the first reading at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today.

The Minimum Wage Implementation and Enforcement ordinance was passed after being continued for several weeks while Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, who sponsored the legislation, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom worked out who would finance the expanded enforcement efforts.

The legislation originally called for medium and large San Francisco businesses to pay a fee to cover the costs associated with strengthening the enforcement of the city's minimum wage law, according to Greg Asay, a legislative aid for Maxwell.

But concern within the mayor's office as well as in the business community about passing the enforcement costs on to businesses prompted discussions between Maxwell and Newsom regarding alternative ways to finance the enforcement.

The legislation was amended to have increased enforcement efforts paid for with monies from the city's general fund, Asay said.

Newsom has agreed to provide city general fund money for four new staff people at the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, as well as money for community outreach programs related to minimum wage violations.

According to Asay, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement was given responsibility in 2003 for enforcing the city's minimum wage law, but the agency was not given funding sufficient for this task.

The city will spend an additional $420,000 in fiscal year 2006-2007 for the strengthened enforcement efforts, according to Asay. The mayor intends to maintain the additional staff positions at the labor standards office in subsequent years, Asay said.

At present, the labor standards office is more or less reactive, and enforces the minimum wage law by responding to reports of possible violations. Asay expects that the office will become more proactive once there are additional staff members.

The legislation represents a "really good victory for San Francisco workers," Asay said. Immigrants and other vulnerable populations are still victims of minimum wage violations in the city, according to Asay.

The legislation also expands the powers of the labor standards office, permitting the agency to investigate violations of things such as overtime pay, according to Asay.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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