The Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs, in the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, on Dec. 10 hosted a media forum to promote a new campaign: “Your Home Is Someone’s Workplace: Domestic Work in Los Angeles County” to raise awareness on how L.A. County can help protect and advance the well-being of domestic workers.

The campaign highlights how domestic workers have contributed to the county’s economic survival during the pandemic, how private-household and other employers can provide fair and responsible workplaces, and how the media can help the county’s efforts to support all workers, including domestic workers.

The media forum coincided with this week’s approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to create the Office of Labor Equity within DCBA.

The new office will target enforcement on key industries, including the domestic work industry.

The Office of Labor Equity will build on the successful track record of DCBA’s Wage Enforcement program, which has investigated complaints of minimum wage violations in unincorporated Los Angeles County and helped put millions of dollars in back wages and fines back into the pockets of for workers.

DCBA also helped to implement the innovative worker protections the board put into place during the pandemic, including paid vaccine leave, Hero Pay for grocery store workers, and health and safety anti-retaliation ordinances.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, 3rd District, who authored the motion to create the new Office of Labor Equity, co-hosted the forum with OIA. She was joined by the California Domestic Workers Coalition, and Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network.

“People are leaving the workforce because they don’t feel valued, and how can employees feel valued if their employers put employee health at risk by failing to enforce vaccination or mask mandates, don’t pay a minimum wage, or fail to pay overtime? Employers need to understand the root causes of the Great Attrition and step up to provide a high level of workplace safety, wage compliance and flexibility to their workers,” Kuehl said. “L.A. County‘s recovery will not go well if workers continue to leave our local economy.”

“The Department of Consumer and Business Affairs is committed to protecting L.A. County workers by enforcing several worker protection ordinances and securing back wages owed to workers,” DCBA director Rafael Carbajal added. “The new Office of Labor Equity will be equipped to expand our efforts to ensure workers, including domestic workers, are treated equitably throughout the county.”

For information, visit oia.lacounty.gov/domestic-work.