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California recently passed four bills that are aimed at supporting low-income workers and their families: Raising the state’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, promoting fair hiring for people with criminal records, protecting immigrant whistleblowers from retaliation, and securing a bill of rights for domestic workers. Not only will these bills benefit millions of workers in California, these major accomplishments serve as a great model for both other states and Congress as they work to address similar issues. Below are some important information about the bills recently passed in California.

Raising the Minimum Wage
The state’s minimum wage is set to increase to $10 by 2016, which will benefit 2.4 million workers in California who currently earn between $8.00 and $10 per hour, in addition to one million workers that earn slightly above $10 per hour that are likely to receive raises as pays scales adjust upward. Economic growth is also estimated to generate more than $3.3 billion. According to the Economic Policy Institute analysis of the impact of minimum wage, more than 90 percent of the workers in California receiving raises are adults over the age of 20, 87 percent work more than 20 hours per week, and 43 percent have at least some college education. The research shows that raising the minimum wage boosts worker pay without causing job losses.

Promoting Fair Hiring Practices for People with Criminal Records
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed AB 218 into law.  The new law removes questions about prior convictions from both state and local agency job applications and postpones inquiries until later in the hiring process. This legislation helps to reduce unfair barriers to employment for people with criminal records, this is important since barriers to employment have shown to increase recidivism. A National Employment Law Project study, 65 Million “Need Not Apply”: The Case for Reforming Criminal Background Checks for Employment, found that 1 in 4 adults in the United States had criminal records, which is estimated at 64.6 million people—27.8 percent of the adult population nationwide. California is now one of 10 states that has implemented what is referred to as “ban-the-box” policies. The legislation will take effect in July 1, 2014.

Protecting Immigrant Whistleblowers from Retaliation
The California Labor Federation sponsored a package of three bills (AB 263, SB 666, and AB 524) to protect workers regardless of their immigration status. AB 263 and SB 666 will help enforce basic labor laws by prohibiting employers from using immigration-related threats when workers speak out about unfair working conditions. AB 524 clarifies that making immigration-related threats in order to get away with wage theft is considered criminal extortion. Unfortunately employers have used the threat of deportation to silence workers who are victims of stolen wages, unsafe working conditions, and abuse on the job, and as a result, this legislation helps to support and protect the rights of the most vulnerable workers in the state.

Securing a Bill of Rights for Domestic Workers
Domestic workers have been historically excluded from industry standards, which highlights the importance of bills that support domestic worker rights. AB 241, the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, recently passed by the California State Senate, and is aimed at addressing this exclusion.  If signed into law by Governor Brown, the bill is set to extend overtime protections to 200,000 domestic workers, such as overtime pay after nine hours a day and/or 45 hours a week to all domestic workers currently excluded from those protections and will ensure that caregivers, nannies, and other domestic workers can finally receive the protection and respect they deserve.

Legislation aimed at supporting minimum wage and low-income workers- and bills that advance and protect the rights of workers are an important part of establishing a strong and stable workforce.  California has taken several steps to ensure those protections in the state.  It is important that policies enacted help increase opportunities for children and families, luckily these policies often provide a boost to economic growth. Policymakers working hard to secure the rights for workers and their families, including improving outcomes for the most vulnerable, should consider aspects of California’s recent actions.

For results-based policy strategies that promote workforce strategies for reintegrating ex-offenders as well as other strategies to support low-income families please visit PolicyforResults.org.