Labor and Workforce Development
Program Enhancements and Other Budget Adjustments

Despite the need for significant General Fund reductions to ensure a balanced budget, the Governor's Budget includes the following major program enhancement for the LWDA:


ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT ENFORCEMENT COALITION
 The Governor's Budget proposes continuation of the Economic and Employment Enforcement (Triple E) Coalition. More progress needs to be made in combating the underground economy so that legitimate employers and their employees can compete on a level playing field. To that end, the Governor's Budget includes $6.9 million (various special funds) and 62.6 positions for these enforcement agencies to continue the successful partnership that began in 2005.


TRIPLE E COALITION
 The Triple E Coalition was established in 2005 to combat the underground economy through a partnership of agencies that enforce California's labor, employment tax, and licensing laws. These agencies include:

  • Labor and Workforce Development Agency
  • Department of Industrial Relations
  • Employment Development Department
  • Contractors' State License Board
The partnership draws upon individual expertise to identify the worst offenders for targeted workplace enforcement actions throughout the state. In addition to enforcement activities, the Triple E Coalition also engages in outreach and education so that employers are provided with the information and assistance necessary to become legitimate and compliant businesses.

The underground economy undercuts the ability of legitimate businesses to compete fairly in the statewide marketplace. These operators willfully disregard California's tax, labor, and licensing laws, and in doing so, harm businesses, place employees at risk, and weaken the state's progress toward economic stability. By avoiding legal requirements, these underground operations carry much lower overhead costs giving them an unfair competitive advantage at the expense of businesses that play by the rules. Workers also pay a high price for the existence of these illegal operations. Finally, consumers are exposed to potential financial losses and even physical danger when they obtain services from unlicensed contractors and other service providers.

Since its inception, the Triple E Coalition has inspected nearly 3,000 businesses and issued over 9,000 citations and assessments. The Coalition has also identified close to $110 million in unreported wages and assessed over $17 million in unpaid employment taxes. Finally, 58 cases that were referred to the District Attorney's Office have resulted in criminal convictions.

During the next two years, the agencies involved in the Triple E Coalition will institute performance measures such as conducting surveys to assess the effectiveness of outreach efforts, instituting quarterly follow-up inspections for selected employers, and tracking the effectiveness of enhanced collection efforts implemented by the Coalition. This additional data is expected to provide key information to determine the ongoing effectiveness of the Triple E Coalition.
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CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS for Labor and Workforce Development Back to Top

 Proposed Workload Budget
 Proposed Budget-Balancing Reductions
image of black pointing arrowProgram Enhancements and Other Budget Adjustments
PRINTABLE BUDGET DOCUMENTS Back to Top
Budget Summary - Labor and Workforce Development (pdf * - 113K) -
Provides this entire Labor and Workforce Development Chapter in pdf format.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Back to Top
Proposed Budget Detail - Labor and Workforce Development
Displays Proposed Budget Detail information for Labor and Workforce Development.