The state has ordered the two agencies to pay more than $1.8 million for wage theft violations affecting 66 caregivers, most of them Filipino.
Compromise Would Reschedule LAUSD’s Extra, Optional School Days — And End Threat Of A Teacher BoycottThe owners of the two companies are appealing the citation, according to the state. The firms did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The commissioner’s office said it cannot comment on pending cases.
Home care worker Maria, who did not want to give her last name because she is still employed by Angel Connection, said she remains hopeful she will be able to receive wages she is owed for providing live-in care. The 63-year-old said assisting elderly and ill clients is meaningful work but it is also physically and mentally demanding. Maria, a cancer survivor herself, said she has to regularly lift clients who are larger than her and her blood pressure spikes from sleepless nights.
“There's no such thing as a rest or meal break because even when I’m eating, my client would ask me, ‘I need to go to the restroom’ so I have to stop eating and go with her,”” Maria said. “Basically, you are there for the client 24 hours a day.”Maria was among more than a dozen people who picketed outside a gleaming office building in Long Beach where the companies are located in an airy, light-filled space on the fourth floor.
As contractors, “they're not entitled to protections from discrimination,” Medrano said. “They're not protected against retaliation. So really, it's stripping them of all the protections that worker advocates have fought for so many years.”Medrano said many other caregivers are concerned about coming forward for fear of retaliation. Some are undocumented and are worried speaking out may jeopardize their ability to stay in the country.