Tyler Maxwell and Andrew Janz host a news conference on a wage theft resolution in this January 2024 file photo.

The City of Fresno has been awarded a grant to help battle wage theft.

City Attorney Andrew Janz announced his office was awarded a one year $720,000 Worker’s Rights Enforcement Grant from the California Labor Commissioner’s office, enacting the city’s prosecution of wage theft.

This grant for Fresno is one of the largest grants awarded in the state, even larger than that of the City of San Francisco.

Fresno’s Wage Protection Program is a city-led initiative aiming to combat and prevent wage theft to ensure that workers in the city receive the compensation they are legally owed.

Led by Councilmember Tyler Maxwell and the City Attorney’s Office, the program combines education for both workers and businesses, policy advocacy, and enforcement to address and rectify instances of wage theft across various industries in Fresno.The wage theft program will launch with its website on August 1, allowing community members to file complaints. The attorney’s office will also launch an informational workshop for workers at the end of July.

“Every hard-working employee in our city deserves to be paid the wages they’re owed,” Maxwell said. “Securing this grant brings us another step closer to getting justice for the many families being taken advantage of across Fresno. Bad actors will be held accountable and together we will create a city where workers’ rights are respected and protected.”

This February, Fresno became the first city in the state to take on wage theft cases under state law.

Fresno City Council voted unanimously  to authorize city attorney Andrew Janz to establish a dedicated division in his office focused on prosecuting wage theft cases.

“To folks who are not experiencing wage theft this may seem like a remote issue but to the workers affected, not receiving pay for a job done is the difference between feeding your children or paying for rent,” Janz said.