To launch a program to support local food service workers, staff from Santa Clara County’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) held a Sept. 23 press conference at a Rose Garden area restaurant they say is doing right by its employees.
“They treat their workers with dignity and respect,” OLSE manager Betty Duong told the crowd gathered outside Luna Mexican Kitchen on The Alameda as restaurant staff set up the patio for the Monday lunch crowd.
The county developed OLSE to oversee its Food Permit Enforcement Program, designed to ensure that service workers are fairly compensated and not exploited. The county Board of Supervisors was compelled to create OLSE after a 2015 analysis found that Santa Clara County received the highest number of wage theft claims per capita in California. According to OLSE’s analysis of 1,743 judgments filed between January 2015 and September 2019, restaurant owners in this county owe nearly $5 million in back wages to employees—an average of about $2,900 per employee.
“We were getting reports in my first term of businesses coercing, even extorting, their employees,” said County Supervisor Dave Cortese. “That’s 100 percent unacceptable.”
The OLSE represents “some of the strongest enforcement standards in the country,” he added, and provides information to workers, employers and the public in “at least seven languages.”
Duong said the local OLSE is the first such office in the nation that’s run by a county instead of a city. “We’re looking forward to being a model” for other counties, she added.
Luna’s business director Angelina Ramos said the restaurant’s model for treating its employees comes across in its customer service. “We take care of our staff, and in tum, they take care of our guests,” she added.
Luna is located outside of the OLSE’s initial coverage area. The county will start enforcing wage theft judgments in Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and the 95112 and 95113 ZIP codes in San Jose, with plans to expand countywide. The initial four jurisdictions include an estimated 2,100 food permits.
Michael Balliet, director of the county Department of Environmental Health, said OLSE staff will work with retail food vendors to resolve wage theft claims. Businesses that refuse to comply with outstanding judgments may have their county-issued food facility permit suspended, and the county would provide public notice of the suspension.
Citing a restaurant in the county that is currently charged with 149 different code violations, Balliet said, “Restaurants that don’t comply with fair wage laws usually also don’t comply with health and safety codes.”
On the other end of the spectrum, John Lopez, who owns Luna Mexican Kitchen with his wife Jo, said after the press conference that their goal is to provide a long-term workplace for their staff.
“Most people have been with us from the beginning,” Lopez added. “We want to take care of our employees; they have families to take care of.”
Workers and business owners who have questions about the Food Permit Enforcement Program can call an attorney-staffed advice line at 866-870-7725. For more information, visit www.sccfairworkplace.org.