December 2019
N E W S L E T T E R
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Improving working conditions for California's wage earners and
advancing opportunities for profitable employment in the state
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DIR Staff at Work
DLSE's Criminal Investigation Unit partnered with
the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to prosecute wage thef
t
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Staff from the Labor Commissioner's Office joined an investigation of a wage theft and immigration fraud scheme with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, California Franchise Tax Board and U.S Department of Homeland Security.
The District Attorney's Office reached out to DLSE's Criminal Investigation Unit while investigating the fraudulent scheme that involved three co-conspirators from West Covina who promised to secure visas for Chinese nationals in exchange for investment in their restaurants in California. Investigators from DLSE interviewed restaurant workers and found that they were not paid properly and were issued checks with insufficient funds, among other wage theft violations.
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The DA pressed charges and some of the co-conspirators have entered into plea deals with restitution orders including years of jail time and over $1.6 million payable to the victims of the fraud and wage theft. Read more about it in the DA's
press release
.
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You voted and your colleagues will be recognized!
DIR staff from all over the state nominated their colleagues for
employee recognition awards
! An announcement with this year's recipients is coming soon.
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Welcome the DLSE, DOSH, Administration and acting HR chiefs to DIR!
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Labor Commissioner,
Lilia García-Brower
Lilia was appointed Labor Commissioner in June. Since 2000, she has served as executive director of the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a watchdog organization focused on abuses in the janitorial industry.
In her experience, Lilia has worked closely with enforcement partners to expose unfair competition and labor exploitation. She works out of the Los Angeles office and is impressed by the hard working individuals at the Labor Commissioner’s Office.
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Cal/OSHA Chief,
Douglas Parker
Doug was appointed Cal/OSHA Chief in August. Since 2016, he has been the Executive Director at Worksafe. Previously he was deputy assistant secretary of labor at the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and senior policy advisor and special assistant at the U.S. Department of Labor. Before those posts, Doug was an associate and partner at a law firm and worked as a staff attorney at the United Mine Workers of America. Doug earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He works at the DOSH headquarters in Oakland and is honored to fill this role.
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DIR Chief of Administration,
Andrew Collada
Andrew joined DIR in November with more than 30 years of administrative experience with the state. Most recently he served as Deputy Director of Administration at the Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Department of Toxic Substances Control. He has also held various fiscal and management positions at the Bureau of State Audits, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Department of Consumer Affairs. Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Spanish from Santa Clara University and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
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DIR Acting Chief of Human Resources,
David Botelho
David was appointed in November and brings years of work experience with the state to DIR. Most recently he was a special consultant with the California Department of Health Care Services from 2018 to 2019. Before that he worked at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and was Program Budget Manager at the California Department of Finance, where he was also chief of the Office of State Audits and evaluations from 2008 to 2013. David held several positions at the California Department of Health Care Services from 1980 to 2008, where he was Deputy Director of Audits and Investigations, Financial Audits Branch Chief and Acting Assistant Division Chief of the Laboratory Science Division.
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DIR has been working to remediate its website
by July 2020
for accessibility certification in accordance with
WCAG 2.1 AA
guidelines, following the passage of
AB 434
. The department must remediate existing inaccessible content and ensure all new content added to the website meets accessibility standards.
Last September, DIR implemented a new
web posting protocol
and departmental
style guide
to provide staff with standards and guidance on accessibility requirements for posting content to our public-facing web pages.
Tip: The web accessibility team would like to remind staff that it is much easier to make an exported PDF document accessible than a scanned copy of that document. If you need to indicate the document has been signed, use /S/ followed by the typed name before exporting or saving it to pdf. For example: “/S/ John Smith”.
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The DIR Accessibility Forum, a peer-learning group that troubleshoots accessibility challenges, is the appropriate venue for staff to request assistance with remediation. The group meets each Monday at 11 a.m. on the 17th floor in Oakland and online via webinar.
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During the meetings, DIR staff with knowledge of accessibility requirements will work with others to address issues found in the documents submitted the previous week and answer any questions that arise during the sessions. Staff who cannot make the forum meetings may view recordings of
past forum meetings online
. Email
accessibility@dir.ca.gov
for an invite to the next meeting
and be sure to join the Forum on Monday January 6 for a
Basics of Web Accessibility
review.
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With a very heavy heart we inform you of the recent passing of two DIR employees. Let's take this time to appreciate their dedication to their families and the hard work they did for the state.
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Don was a truly valuable public servant with a 30-year career at Cal/OSHA's Pressure Vessel Unit. He was well known in the public safety community for his extensive experience implementing standards for boilers and pressure vessels. Don started with Cal/OSHA in Long Beach in 1989 before moving to the Bay Area and working at the San Francisco office since 1997. He will be missed by loved ones and colleagues for his dedication to the job and exceptional attitude. Don brought people together through his love for playing guitar, coaching sports teams and hosting gatherings with homemade food and drinks. You can read
Don's obituary
in a newspaper from his hometown of Bakersfield.
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Anna was a dedicated state employee who joined DIR to use her expertise in legislation and policy to make an impact on California's workers and employers. Anna worked hard to support several programs in the Director's Office, including the Legislative Unit. She never failed to light up a room with her infectious smile and boundless positive energy. She will be deeply missed by loved ones and colleagues.
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DIR has many photos and articles in its archives. Here's one from November 1983:
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Do you want to share your holiday stories, recipes or photos?
Send submissions to Digest@dir.ca.gov
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