Fair Work Initiative
Every hour worked deserves to be paid. Every worker deserves to be safe. The Fair Work Initiative is our labor-exploitation mitigation program: plain-language rights education, confidential first-line help, documentation support, and referral to the agencies and attorneys who can enforce your rights.
Exploitation counts on silence.
Wage theft, unpaid overtime, illegal deductions, dangerous conditions, threats tied to status — these happen to people with a foreign-born story far more often than to anyone else, and most cases are never reported. Not because the law does not protect these workers — it does, whatever their status — but because nobody has ever told them so in their language, and because the fear of losing the job, or worse, is real.
The Fair Work Initiative exists to close that gap. We do not replace a lawyer or a government agency. We make sure you reach one, prepared, with your documents in order and the deadlines understood. Everything you tell us stays confidential.
Five kinds of help, in your language.
Rights education
Plain-language explanations of minimum wage, overtime, breaks, deductions, final pay, safety and retaliation protections — federal and California.
Know your rightsDocumentation help
We show you what to keep and how to keep it: hours, pay, messages, photos, witnesses. Good records win cases.
Documents to keepWage claim support
How to file with the California Labor Commissioner or the federal Wage and Hour Division, what happens next, and how to prepare for the settlement conference and hearing.
File a wage claimSafety and retaliation
Your right to a safe workplace, how to report without giving your name, and what to do if you are punished for speaking up.
Safety at workScreening and referral
We screen every case for trafficking indicators and route serious cases to specialized partners immediately; other cases go to workers' rights clinics, legal aid and attorneys we have checked.
Get helpWorkshops for associations
Know-your-rights sessions for associations and community groups, in English, Spanish or French, on site or online.
Request a workshopWhat the Initiative does, and what you should keep.
| If this is happening | What the Initiative does | What you should keep |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid, late or partial wages | Explains how to file a wage claim and connects you to the labor agency or a workers' rights clinic. Bridges an emergency through the Hardship Fund if the timing requires it. | Hours worked (a daily note is enough), pay stubs, texts or messages about pay, the employer's name and address |
| Unpaid overtime, missed breaks | Explains the daily and weekly overtime rules and meal/rest break premiums, and how they are claimed. | Start and end times, break times, schedules, any written policy |
| Illegal deductions or 'fees' | Explains which deductions are lawful, and how to claim back the rest. | Pay stubs, receipts, anything you were made to pay for |
| Unsafe conditions, injury | Explains your right to a safe workplace and workers' compensation, and how to report without giving your name. | Photos, dates, names of witnesses, medical records if injured |
| Threats tied to status | Explains the protections that exist and connects you to trusted legal help. | Any written threat, dates and what was said, who was present |
| Recruitment fees, debt, confiscated documents | Screens for trafficking indicators and routes to specialized partners immediately. | Contracts, receipts, who you paid and when, where your documents are |
| Fired or punished for speaking up | Explains retaliation protections and the deadlines to act on them. | The timeline: when you complained, when the punishment came, any messages |
The law protects every worker, whatever their status.
Federal minimum-wage and overtime law and California labor law apply to work that was actually performed, regardless of the worker's immigration status. The California Labor Commissioner accepts wage claims without asking about status, and California law prohibits an employer from reporting or threatening to report a worker's status because the worker asserted labor rights. Reporting an unsafe workplace can be done without giving your name.
This does not make the fear go away. It means the fear is not the end of the story. Talk to us, and we will help you reach the people who can act.
Go deeper.
Need help today?
Free, confidential, in your language. Or fund the next family's relief.