Democratic candidate for Florida Attorney General José Javier Rodríguez joined workers and labor advocates Monday to call attention to Florida’s wage theft crisis and his pledge, if elected, to use the office to enforce the state’s minimum wage law.
Rodríguez called out what he described as years of inaction by the state’s top law enforcement agency — even as millions of dollars are lost annually by workers, especially those earning minimum wage, due to unpaid or underpaid wages.
"Far too long, we have had no enforcement from the state of the minimum wage," he said at a news conference in Miami Springs. "And when we're talking about wage theft, not paying someone the minimum wage, or in many cases, not paying them at all, is often the worst type of wage theft that we see in the state."
The former state senator and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, said "wage theft is rampant."
In a joint study released in 2021, the Florida Policy Institute and Rutgers University’s Center for Innovation in Worker Organization found that the state's minimum wage "has been largely unenforced for at least a decade."
Rodríguez said the lack of enforcement has resulted in the loss of more than $1 billion "that should be in workers' pockets."
"That is a crisis and it's something that demands attention," he said. "We need an attorney general's office that is working for the people."
In 2020, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026. As part of that measure, the minimum wage will increase again Tuesday to $14 per hour for non-tipped employees and $10.98 per hour for tipped employees.
READ MORE: Florida Attorney General candidate slams FPL's massive rate hike proposal
Despite the clear legal requirements, say Rodriguez and labor advocates, violations remain widespread, with low-wage workers in sectors like hospitality, construction, and agriculture most at risk.
Rodríguez, a labor attorney for 20 year, said the lack of state enforcement leaves local governments or workers to pursue complaints and claims through lengthy and "far too expensive" legal processes.
"It's great but not remotely near enough," he said.
Advocates at the press event said the state’s lack of involvement leaves vulnerable workers without protection.
"What good is a $14 minimum wage if no one enforces it?" said Jeffrey Mitchell, president of the South Florida AFL-CIO, who appeared at Monday's press conference. "Which is a shame."
"Wage theft is an injustice that has become too common, too comfortable, too tolerated in the state of Florida," he added. "It is the quiet epidemic that robs our workers, strips our families, and shames our institutions.
"It happens in our kitchens, on our construction sites, in our hospitals, and in our homes," Mitchell said. "It targets immigrants. It targets Black and brown workers. It targets those least able to fight back."
Karla De Anda, a workers' advocate representing nannies and other domestic workers, said nannies can be told to work 14 hours a day, six days a week, for $600. And they are typically immigrants who fear speaking out.
De Anda, who is advocacy director at The Right to Freedom Network, said the wage theft issue affects her clients "each day and every day, all the time."
