In July 2024, the Oakland City Council passed a resolution accepting and appropriating a worker protection grant that the California Department of Industrial Relations awarded to the City Attorney’s Office (OCA). This year, California Labor Code section 181 also granted the City Attorney authority to enforce state labor laws. The Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant fully funds the cost of hiring an attorney in our Affirmative Litigation, Innovation and Enforcement Division to investigate and civilly prosecute a larger volume of the state and local worker’s rights violations that occur in Oakland but exceed our current enforcement capacity. Through this grant, the City Attorney’s Office will continue to collaborate with Department of Workplace and Employment Standards and community partners to address wage theft and worker abuse in Oakland.