Strengthen Laws to Improve Wage Enforcement
Developing New Local Policies: Together with the state and federal governments,
local authorities can play a role in combating rising workplace violations. One
new policy tool the Brennan Center is helping develop is "responsible
licensing" legislation. Cities license many industries and can use that
authority to signal the importance of complying with basic workplace laws. One
of the nation's first responsible licensing laws, the proposed Responsible Restaurant Act,
was introduced in the New York city council in 2007. It was developed by the Brennan Center Strategic
Fund together with the Restaurant
Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY), a restaurant worker organizing
and advocacy group. It requires the city to treat employment law compliance the
same way it considers health code violations when deciding whether to renew
operating permits for restaurants. More
information is available on the Brennan Center Strategic
Fund's website.
Updating Wage Laws: Outdated state wage laws pose additional obstacles to securing broad compliance with the minimum wage and other employment laws. The Brennan Center works with policymakers and grassroots coalitions across the country to strengthen and update these protections by developing enhanced enforcement tools for inclusion in federal, state and local minimum wage laws, and closing archaic loopholes that deny many workers protection.