Attorney General Bonta Issues Fifth Labor Day Report, Highlighting Another Year of Protecting Workers

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the fifth annual Labor Day Report highlighting the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing efforts to empower and protect workers in California and across the country.

“This year, California rose up the ranks to become the fourth-largest economy in the world — this is no accident. It is due to the hard work, dedication, and ingenuity of our workers and our state’s longtime commitment to ensuring workers are protected,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This Labor Day, I celebrate workers nationwide and our office's work to protect them. Over the course of the last year, we ensured companies were paying minimum wage and overtime pay, providing breaks and sick leave, and reimbursing employees for business expenses — we stood up for federal workers, nurses, teachers, custodians, truck drivers, and construction workers. In California, we champion our workers and proudly lead the work to both safeguard the hard-fought protections secured by the labor movement, and amid an ever-evolving world, lead us even further. Our workers deserve nothing less.”

This Labor Day — and every day — Attorney General Bonta honors all those whose hard work keeps California and the nation strong. California is home to the largest and most diverse economy of any state in the country — a testament to the resilience, productivity, and skills of its workforce. These workers represent different industries that grow our food, teach our children, nurse our sick, and build our homes. California has a long, proud history of enacting some of the most expansive worker protection laws in the country. California serves as proof that a state can respect its workers and maintain one of the most vibrant economies in the world at the same time — paying workers fair wages and maintaining a profitable economy are not mutually exclusive. 

This year’s Labor Day Report highlights DOJ’s ongoing efforts to support workers and uphold labor law in California and beyond, from: standing up for nurses, construction workers, and janitorial workers; to cracking down on no-poach agreements and worker misclassification; to standing up for federal workers amidst the Trump Administration’s trampling of workers’ rights and mass firing agenda. 

10 Things Workers Should Know About Their Rights:

1. You have the right to organize and join a union.
2. You may be an employee even if you are called a contractor.
3. You have several, important wage-and-hour-rights, including the right to a minimum wage.
4. Your wages, tips, and accrued vacation are yours.
5. You may be entitled to time off — including parental leave, both paid and unpaid.
6. You are protected from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, by California law.
7. You may be eligible for unemployment insurance if you are fired or quit your job for good cause.
8. You may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
9. You can reasonably refuse to do unsafe work.
10. Your employer cannot retaliate against you for exercising your rights.

A copy of the 2025 Labor Day Report is available here.