DC City Council Passes Wage Theft & Ban the Box Bills
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)DC
workers won two victories Monday at the DC City
Council with the passage of
both the Wage Theft Prevention Act and Ban the
Box bill. “Wage theft in particular
has been a focus for this coalition for years
and years, so it's amazing to see
this day finally come,” said Ari Schwartz of
DC Jobs with Justice. The wage
theft bill makes it a crime for employers to
pay less than the minimum wage, to
advertise one wage for a job and then pay a
lower one or to manipulate workers’
hours to prevent them from qualifying for
higher levels of compensation. The
“ban the box” bill bans employers from
asking job applicants if they have been
arrested or convicted of a crime until after an
initial job offer is extended.
“Now onto making sure the laws are enforced
and organizing against bad actors
who break them,” Schwartz added.