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Undocumented workers get prevailing wage
March 22, 2007 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
Can undocumented workers recover wages due under California's prevailing wage law? Or is such a suit barred by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB?
According to the California Court of Appeal, the workers' suit can proceed.
Reyes v. Van Elk (California Ct App 03/14/2007)
Reyes sued the employer, seeking (among other things) wages allegedly due under California’s prevailing wage law. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer, based on its determination that 1) undocumented workers were precluded by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB, 535 US 137 (2002) from asserting such claims; and 2) the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and IRCA preempted California statutes declaring immigration status irrelevant to claims under California’s labor, employment, civil rights, and employee housing laws.
The California Court of Appeal reversed.
1) In Zavala v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 393 F.Supp.2d 295 (D.N.J. 2005), the court concluded that workers are not precluded by their undocumented status from obtaining relief under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for work already performed. That position is in accord with post-Hoffman interpretations by the Department of Labor and post-Hoffman court decisions construing the FLSA to cover undocumented workers. Agreeing with the reasoning set forth in those decisions, the court concluded that the employees were not precluded from pursuing their claims.
2) California Labor Code Section 1171.5 provides that immigration status is irrelevant to claims under California’s labor, employment, civil rights, and employee housing laws. The court concluded that Section 1171.5 is not preempted by federal law. The court reasoned that “[t]he ultimate goal of the IRCA is to control illegal immigration into the United States by prohibiting the employment of unauthorized aliens …. Allowing employers to hire undocumented workers and pay them less than the wage mandated by statute is a strong incentive for the employers to do so, which in turn encourages illegal immigration.”
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