Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.
In previous blogs I presented who and what the Worker Power Super PAC is, what facilities this proposed ordinance would impact, and the minimum wage provisions. In this blog I will share what new regulations are imposed on Glendale.
The Worker Power initiative mandates that the City of Glendale, effective June 1, 2025, will create a Department of Labor Standards as well as an online and a paper method for individuals to file complaints. It further mandates that there be a Director of Labor Standards and investigators. This new department will publish all labor regulations and is empowered to make labor rules that comply with this proposed ordinance.
The proposed ordinance also requires this Labor Department’s access to all records, and it can impose a civil penalty of up to one hundred dollars ($100) per day to be paid to the hotel or event center worker. The maximum violation per employer can be up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day. Statutory damages can be awarded. The party that loses a court case must pay the opponent’s attorney’s fees and any court costs. There is a 3-year statute of limitations during which any harmed individual can sue.
At our last city council workshop, I asked what the estimated cost of creating this new department would be. The estimated cost is one million dollars. That’s just for a bare bones, new department. I ask you this. Have you ever seen a governmental department go away or shrink? Never happens. One million dollars is just the starting point.
Where will the money come from? That’s for the city council to decide but every other department is fair game to lose money. It could be parks and libraries, transportation, public safety. That will be decided next year, if this initiative passes.
In my next blog I will share how this initiative will impact Glendale and you.
© Joyce Clark, 2024
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