Education and Enforcement
Ensures that workers are protected through existing laws, employers understand changes and are accountable for legal protections. This includes equipping employers as well as monitoring job quality protections and contract requirements related to procurement policies, incentive programs, wage subsidy programs and other policies that go beyond federal, state and local labor law.
The Education and Enforcement Approach
This lever generally consists of efforts to raise awareness around worker rights and protections, evolving labor laws, and the resources that exist in the community to support both workers and businesses. While workforce development agencies are not the primary entity responsible for labor enforcement, they are often seen as a trusted intermediary for both workers and businesses and can use their programs, facilities, and messaging to make critical information available to those who need it.
Sample Ways to Use this Lever
- Awareness/Learning: Helping job seekers understand their rights and employers their responsibilities through training, messaging campaigns and other outreach.
- Technical Assistance: Hosting or partnering on technical assistance for employers that want help complying with the law such as a hotline, individual coaching sessions, or process improvement support. Building staff expertise on labor law to help individuals/employers more effectively navigate systems.
- Monitoring: Providing safe channels for participants to report alleged labor violations and reviewing investigation/enforcement data on companies that have violated local ordinances to inform partner, procurement and subsidized wage funding decisions
- Partnership: Providing referrals to enforcement or co-enforcement organizations, assisting community organizations with translation support so all workers can understand their rights
- Enforcement: Enforcing living wage ordinances and other job quality requirements and standards for contractors, service providers and recipients of wage subsidies, establishing dedicated staff/office for worker protections
Get More Information
- Check out a case study on using education and enforcement for JQ
- Explore leading practices for this lever
- See how to measure JQ through education and enforcement
- Check out additional education and enforcement resources
Download: Self Assessment and Quick Start Guide
Ensures that workers are protected through existing laws, employers understand changes and are accountable for legal protections. This includes equipping employers as well as monitoring job quality protections and contract requirements related to procurement policies, incentive programs, wage subsidy programs and other policies that go beyond federal, state and local labor law.
The Education and Enforcement Approach
This lever generally consists of efforts to raise awareness around worker rights and protections, evolving labor laws, and the resources that exist in the community to support both workers and businesses. While workforce development agencies are not the primary entity responsible for labor enforcement, they are often seen as a trusted intermediary for both workers and businesses and can use their programs, facilities, and messaging to make critical information available to those who need it.
Sample Ways to Use this Lever
- Awareness/Learning: Helping job seekers understand their rights and employers their responsibilities through training, messaging campaigns and other outreach.
- Technical Assistance: Hosting or partnering on technical assistance for employers that want help complying with the law such as a hotline, individual coaching sessions, or process improvement support. Building staff expertise on labor law to help individuals/employers more effectively navigate systems.
- Monitoring: Providing safe channels for participants to report alleged labor violations and reviewing investigation/enforcement data on companies that have violated local ordinances to inform partner, procurement and subsidized wage funding decisions
- Partnership: Providing referrals to enforcement or co-enforcement organizations, assisting community organizations with translation support so all workers can understand their rights
- Enforcement: Enforcing living wage ordinances and other job quality requirements and standards for contractors, service providers and recipients of wage subsidies, establishing dedicated staff/office for worker protections
Get More Information
- Check out a case study on using education and enforcement for JQ
- Explore leading practices for this lever
- See how to measure JQ through education and enforcement
- Check out additional education and enforcement resources
Download: Self Assessment and Quick Start Guide
How government agencies can use education and enforcement:
Knowledge Building and Evaluation
- Becoming familiar with existing reporting processes and how to leverage them
- Evaluating existing partnerships to determine if there is a need to shift allocation of subsidies (or other resources)
- Identifying leading practices from local businesses and partnerships that can be shared
- Learning about strategic enforcement practices and how to engage with them
- Identifying trusted anchor organizations in the community that are safe spaces for workers to report issues
Implementation
- Providing resources or technical assistance to help businesses understand new regulations or take advantage of credits. Could include exploring deployment of funds to expanding service offerings or technical assistance for business
- Developing outreach campaigns to increase knowledge of new or revised requirements. Leveraging association membership, communications and PR resources to get the word out about job quality
- Creating or using existing industry partnerships as a mechanism to connect businesses with each other and facilitate change
- Establishing offices or functions dedicated to worker protections and employer education
- Leveraging Rapid Response / Layoff Aversion / Small Business Administration / CDBG or related grants to fund business process transformation projects to help businesses come into alignment with requirements
- Prioritizing provision of subsidies (and other offerings) to businesses seeking to improve or expand their quality jobs
- Creating or utilizing reporting processes to address repeat offender
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