Mounting Backlog of Wage-Theft Claims in California Due to Severe Understaffing and Poor Training, Labor Commission Audit Finds | KQED

Severe understaffing, slow hiring, poor training and inefficient bureaucracy combine to slow California's investigations of wage theft claims, the state auditor's office concluded.

It would take the Labor Commissioner's Office wage claims unit nearly 900 staff members to fully address the backlogs and handle claims in the time required by law, almost three times its current positions.

Workers' advocates argue that class-action suits against employers under the Private Attorneys General Act divert cases from the Labor Commissioner's Office, impacting its efficiency in handling claims.

Alexandra Suh, co-president of the California Coalition for Worker Power, opposes the repeal of the Private Attorneys General Act, highlighting the current delays in processing wage claims.

Read at Kqed