The Workers' Rights Unit provides advice and representation to low-income individuals in unemployment benefits cases at hearing, board of review, and court appeal levels. We prioritize cases involving barriers to accessing unemployment benefits such as limited English proficiency, technology-related problems, health or child care issues, or misclassification as independent contractors.
The Workers' Rights Unit provides low-wage workers with advice and representation in wage theft cases. Issues include minimum wage and overtime pay violations, nonpayment of wages, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, and other wage-related problems. We prioritize cases referred by community partners and cases where a community group is engaging in worker organizing, worker leadership development, and/or a public pressure campaign. We also prioritize cases where not enough money is at stake to attract private representation on a contingency fee basis or where other barriers to private representation exist.
The Workers’ Rights Unit provides advice and representation to workers who need to take time off from work for health or family reasons. The Unit provides advice and representation to low-income workers who need coverage under the Paid Family & Medical Leave program for time off from work because of their own serious medical condition or that of a family member, or to bond with a new child. The Unit also provides advice and representation to low-income workers about issues related to short-term sick leave.
The Workers’ Rights Unit has limited capacity to provide advice and representation to low-income workers facing discrimination or harassment at work. We prioritize cases referred by community partners, where not enough money is at stake to attract private representation on a contingency fee basis, or where other barriers to private representation exist.
The Workers’ Rights Unit provides advice and representation to low-income workers who have been retaliated against by employers for asserting workplace rights (for example, overtime pay) or for seeking work-related benefits (for example, Paid Family & Medical Leave). We prioritize cases referred by community partners, where not enough money is at stake to attract private representation on a contingency fee basis, or where other barriers to private representation exist.
The Workers’ Rights Unit provides advice and representation to immigrant clients who may be eligible for U visas as survivors of workplace-related crimes, for T visas as survivors of forced labor, and for related applications for work permits and deferred action. Typically, we represent clients in workplace-related immigration matters in conjunction with an underlying workers’ rights case, such as wage theft.