REPORT: On-the-Job Injuries and Workers’ Compensation among Day Laborers
This brief summarizes research conducted by UCLA-LOSH and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) on the experiences of day laborers who are injured while working in residential settings in California. Interviews with 64 day laborers show that 1) workers face a wide range of hazards at residential worksites, 2) the injuries they experience can be serious in nature, and 3) these injuries often result in substantial costs to workers and their families. Many of these workers may be eligible for workers’ compensation when injuries occur, but few injured workers benefit from these resources.
The report includes a discussion of the common barriers day laborers face in accessing workers’ compensation resources, and it consider the impact of proposed legislation in California to streamline workers’ compensation eligibility requirements for this workforce.
Download the report here: On-The-Job-Injuries-And-Day-Laborers-April-2017
Voices from the Margins: Immigrant Workers’ Perceptions of Health and Safety in the Workplace
Reports
ENGLISH: California’s Immigrant Workers Speak up About Health and Safety in the Workplace (Policy Brief)- ENGLISH: Voices from the Margins: Immigrant Workers’ Perceptions of Health and Safety in the Workplace (Full Report)
- ENGLISH: Appendix VI: Industry Profiles and Expanded Findings
- SPANISH: Informe y Recomendaciones Sobre Salud y Seguridad: Trabajadores Inmigrantes de California Toman la Palabra y se Expresan Acerca de la Salud y Seguridad en el Centro de Trabajo (Informe de Politica)
LOSH conducted an ethnographic in-depth study of 75 immigrant workers in six industries in Southern California between January and October 2001. The industries chosen were: day labor, domestic work, garment work, homecare, hotel and restaurant work. Most of those interviewed — 90 percent — worried that they would get injured on the job. The majority said they had experienced work-related injuries or illnesses, but only two thirds had reported these to their employers. Those who did not report gave a variety of reasons for not doing so, not the least of which was concern that their employer would retaliate against them.