SACRAMENTO — Anti-labor trafficking legislation co-sponsored by the Los Angeles County and Sonoma County District Attorneys’ offices has been signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. AB 1583 was authored by Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa) and unanimously passed the state legislature with bipartisan support.

Labor trafficking and wage theft are insidious problems nationwide, especially in California, and are vastly underreported due to the precarious employment and immigration status of the victims. The new law strengthens California’s response to labor trafficking and wage theft by establishing clear jurisdictional authority for prosecutors to bring cases in the county where the victim resided at the time of the crime, the employment agreement was entered into, any portion of the work was performed or the offending business operated. The law also closes a critical loophole by authorizing coordinated prosecutions for multi-jurisdiction labor trafficking and wage theft cases.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office’s economic and labor justice unit or LJU was established to protect anyone who works, lives or does business in Los Angeles County from wage theft and labor trafficking. The LJU investigates and prosecutes cases involving unpaid wages, exploitative labor practices and human trafficking, ensuring that workers are treated fairly under the law.