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Grassroots organizing & public policy innovation for a just economy

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Home › Our Work › Just Economy › Fair Workplace Collaborative

Fair Workplace Collaborative

Empowering and educating Santa Clara County residents and business owners on their rights and responsibilities in the workforce.

Overview

Services

Trainings

Partners

Stories

The Fair Workplace Collaborative (FWC) is a coalition of dedicated community members, organizations, labor attorneys, and small business leaders committed to combating wage theft and labor violations by connecting with the community, providing free legal aid, hosting worker and business employment/labor trainings, and legal clinics.

The Fair Workplace Collaborative is a proud partner of the Santa Clara County Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, who provides invaluable support to our workers’ rights education and compliance information for business owners through the Labor Standards Outreach and Education Initiative.

1,000+

businesses trained on best labor practices and current labor laws

3,000+

businesses engaged and introduced to our services

7,000+

free labor and employment advice line calls

7,000+

workers trained on workers rights

46,000+

workers engaged and introduced to our services

The Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) was created by the Board of Supervisors in 2017 to address the problem of wage theft in Santa Clara County. OLSE partnered with the Fair Workplace Collaborative and the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center to launch a community engagement campaign across Santa Clara County with the mission of informing businesses and workers about their rights and responsibilities, as well as providing individualized support and services to those seeking assistance.

Our Services

  • Connecting with the Community and Sharing information/Resources: Distribute service information through flyering, industry and community events, and door-to-door canvassing. Check out our calendar for upcoming events we are participating in. 🙂
  • Free Worker and Business Trainings: In-person and virtual training on wage and hour laws, workers’ rights, sexual harassment, retaliation, and labor trafficking. Check out our calendar for the next training dates, times, and how to join. 
  • Free Legal Services: Field inquiries and provide information about compliance, local and state resources, and legal clinic appointments.
    Toll-Free Lawyer Advice Line: 1-866-870-7725
    Call to make an in person appointment with a labor/employment attorney:
    (408) 288-7030 • Monday-Friday, 9:00-4:00 pm 
  • Case Management: Individualized services for information, referrals, and assistance in filing claims with State or Federal agencies. Call the number below to get started.
    Toll-Free Lawyer Advice Line: 1-866-870-7725
  • Social Media presence: Culturally competent and language-accessible campaigns that provide information about resources and services. Follow on social media here: Instagram • Facebook • X (Twitter)

Know Your Rights

Join other local workers to learn more about your rights.

Join Our Next Training

Our Partners

This work would not be possible without the continuous collaboration of our partner organizations. 

Working Partnerships USA serves as the Fair Workplace Collaborative coordinator and provides labor and workplace rights training for workers, and other relevant services in English and Spanish. Working Partnerships USA is a community labor organization advancing the movement for a fair economy in Silicon Valley by bringing together public policy innovation and the power of organizing. Working Partnerships USA builds the capacity of working people, low-income neighborhoods, and communities of color to lead and govern. Working Partnerships USA addresses the root causes of inequality and poverty by leading collaborative campaigns in four program areas: good jobs, housing and transportation justice, healthy communities, and making democracy work for everyone.

The Day Worker Center of Mountain View is a non-profit organization that connects the day worker community with employers in a safe and reliable environment in addition to offering various programs for workers and community members such as providing healthy meals, ESL classes, technology classes, workshops about worker’s rights and much more. Their vision is a world of diverse communities where day laborers live with full rights and responsibilities in an environment of mutual respect, peace, and harmony. Serving Mountain View and surrounding communities since 1996, Day Worker Center of Mountain View offer help with a wide variety of jobs.

Step Forward Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides specialized legal services to low-income communities, specifically in family, immigration, and employment law. Based in Morgan Hill, Step Forward partners with organizations across the county to provide legal training and clinics. They are our lawyers, they are the ones in charge of the toll-free lawyer advice line that we also refer people to. Ruth Silver Taube, Of Counsel at Step Forward, is an experienced employment attorney who has practiced employment law since 1993. She has been the Supervising Attorney of the Workers’ Rights Practice at the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center at Santa Clara University School of Law for 20 years and is an Adjunct Professor who teaches a labor and employment/workers’ rights class at Santa Clara University School of Law.

The Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants (PAWIS), founded in 2002, is a worker-led grassroots organization fighting against the social and economic injustice faced by Filipino workers and immigrants in Santa Clara County. PAWIS recognizes the need to collectively support the community to strengthen the voice of Filipino workers and oppose any form of abuse and exploitation through providing education, resources, and training to its members.

The Vietnamese American Roundtable (VAR) envisions a strong and unified Vietnamese American community that works towards improving our quality of life. To this end, VAR focuses their mission to organize, advocate, and educate their community. We accomplish this through mobilization, advocacy, and education – mobilization through events and coalition building, advocacy through empowering and strategy, and education through panels, works.

Economic justice is Enterprise Foundation’s bedrock. Thanks to the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, SBA, and NorCal SBDC, the Enterprise Foundation has helped thousands of diverse small business owners in Santa Clara County gain access to millions of dollars of grants and loans during the past decade. The Enterprise Foundation, founded in 2007 is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its mission is “to foster self-sufficiency through self-employment and to promote, support, and encourage the advancement and development of micro-enterprises and small businesses of Santa Clara County.” The Enterprise Foundation provides small business technical assistance services to small business owners at no cost and in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages. The Enterprise Foundation is the program operator for a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program operating in Santa Clara County since 2011.

Prosperity Lab was created in the heart of Silicon Valley by a group of dedicated leaders and business owners. Prosperity Lab creates and facilitates programs and initiatives that uplift and empower women, micro enterprises and organic communities towards business growth and advancement. Every member of their team devotes their talent and skill to serving clients. The Mesa Redonda (Round Table) program offers special training, certifications, and individual assistance tailored to the specific needs of foodservice providers and restaurateurs. Clients of Mesa Redonda may also access Prosperity Lab’s full suite of services to gain maximum benefits for their business.

The Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center provides free legal services for low-income individuals with consumer, immigration, and workers’ rights matters.  Law Center services include community education and outreach, advice clinics, brief services, and in limited instances, representation.  If you have a question about your rights as a worker, please call the Law Center to learn more about their services and to see if they can assist you.
Call to make an appointment: (408) 288-7030 • Monday-Friday, 9:00-4:00 pm

FWC Events and Activities Calendar

Know Your Rights

Join other local workers to learn more about your rights.

Join Our Next Training

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🚨 Join us next Wednesday, July 23, for an infor 🚨 Join us next Wednesday, July 23, for an informative Worker's Rights Training hosted by the Fair Workplace Collaborative! ⁠
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You will:⁠
📣 Learn about labor rights in your workplace⁠
🔎 How to identify and report wage theft ⁠
🧊 What to do if ICE shows up at your workplace⁠
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We will also provide:⁠
🍴 Free food⁠
👶 Free child supervision⁠
🎟️ Raffle off $100 gift card⁠
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👉️ Register by clicking the link in our bio!🔗⁠
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🚨 ¡Los esperamos el proximo viernes, 23 de Julio, para un taller informativo de los derechos laborales cual fue organizado por el Fair Workplace Collaborative!⁠
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Acompañanos Para:⁠
📣 Aprender mas sobre tus derechos laborales en su trabajo⁠
🔎 Como identificar y denunciar el robo de salario⁠
🧊 Que hacer si llega ICE a tu trabajo⁠
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Tendremos:⁠
🍴 Comida Gratis⁠
👶 Supervisión gratuita para niños⁠
🎟️ Una rifa de una targeta de $100⁠
⁠
👉️ ¡Regístrate haciendo clic en nuestra bio!🔗⁠
⏳ The High Road Summit is just one week away! ✨⁠
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We're bringing together organizers, workers, policy leaders, and advocates to reimagine our regional economies and push forward real solutions rooted in equity, climate justice, and worker power.⁠
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From the future of childcare and care work to high-road manufacturing, from worker co-ops to state-level policy, our workshops are designed to spark collaboration and action.⁠
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📣 Now’s the time to show up, connect, and commit. Let’s move from ideas to action—together.⁠
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👉 RSVP today at wpusa.org/highroadsummit or head to the link in our bio 🔗
Even as we fight the forces of oppression and expl Even as we fight the forces of oppression and exploitation, we’re grounded in gratitude for the brilliance of our partners and allies. Together, we’re doing the hard work of building futures where our communities have access to basic necessities and real opportunities, now and for generations to come.

📣 Join us at our upcoming High Road Summit—because now is the time to double down on equity, climate action, and worker power!

We’re growing a High Road economy that centers underinvested communities, protects our climate, and uplifts the leadership of workers, immigrants, and communities of color. These aren’t just ideas—they’re real, collaborative projects already transforming our region. And we need bold, committed stakeholders to help sustain this momentum.

Be part of the movement shaping a cleaner, more equitable future.
👉RSVP today at wpusa.org/highroadsummit or go to the link in our bio 🔗
Universal Healthcare Coverage is at Risk! ⚡️🚨⁠
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Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget is a huge blow to the state’s efforts towards universal health care coverage, #Health4All, a goal that Gov. Newsom once lauded. Advocates are calling on state legislators to REJECT these proposed budget cuts. Our system is stronger and our communities are healthier when everyone is covered; an attack on one is an attack on us all!⁠
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Click the link in the bio to find your representative!
We are proud to stand alongside @seiu521, @seiu102 We are proud to stand alongside @seiu521, @seiu1021, @parentvoicesoakland, Headstart workers, parents, and providers to demand justice for our children, families, and care workers from our Care Workers Council. 

Childcare is under attack in Santa Clara County.
❌ Headstart and Early Head Start are being defunded
❌ Childcare providers are being laid off
❌ Facilities are shutting down permanently

These cuts hit hardest in East and South County, where families already face limited access to childcare. These are childcare deserts — and they’re growing.

This is a call to action: Invest in care, not cuts.

Every child deserves a safe, nurturing place to grow. Every working family deserves support. Every provider deserves respect.

We're organizing for Childcare for All — because strong communities start with strong care.

#ChildcareForAll #StopTheCuts #SEIU521 #WorkingPartnershipsUSA #HeadStartMatters #InvestInCare #CommunityPower #SouthBaySolidarity #WhenWeFightWeWi
🔹 Employers in San Jose with 36 or more employe 🔹 Employers in San Jose with 36 or more employees are legally required to prioritize offering additional work hours to qualified part-time employees before hiring external candidates, including subcontractors or temporary staffing agencies.⁠
🔹 This ordinance aims to increase economic stability for part-time workers by ensuring they have the first opportunity to take on additional hours before new hires are considered.⁠
🔹 Non-compliance can result in city-led investigations and financial penalties for violating businesses.⁠
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NEW REPORT by @CHIRLA_ORG and @CAFastFoodUnion she NEW REPORT by @CHIRLA_ORG and @CAFastFoodUnion sheds light on the specific ways that fear about immigration status, and lack of knowledge about their rights, are impacting the lives of over 600,000 fast food workers across California.

While union workers have used their rights to hold fast food bosses accountable, many workers continue to live in fear.

Thanks to the bold leadership of our elected representatives , Santa Clara County is exploring providing Know Your Rights training for fast food workers. We need to let them know that we support safe, in-person training for Fast Food Workers in our county, where they can learn about their rights, understand labor laws, and connect with trusted resource people for guidance on workplace issues.

Read the report: https://www.chirla.org/fastfoodworkersreport/
Last week in San Jose, we gathered with workers an Last week in San Jose, we gathered with workers and community members from across our campaigns — app-based drivers, care workers, Berryessa Flea Market vendors, trades program participants, and more — for a community BBQ and potluck.⁠
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It was a chance to slow down, share a meal, and connect across the different parts of our work and lives. We enjoyed fresh-off-the-grill tacos 🌮 and elotes 🌽, music, games for the kids, and a piñata — and meaningful time spent together.⁠
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Huge shoutout to our team for pouring heart into every detail, and to everyone who showed up, brought food, brought love ❤️, and brought hope.⁠
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We’re proud to be part of this vibrant, unstoppable community in Santa Clara County — and even prouder to keep growing it together 🌱.
📢 We're hiring at Working Partnerships USA!⁠ 📢 We're hiring at Working Partnerships USA!⁠
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If you're ready to turn your passion for social justice into action, this is your chance to join a team fighting for economic equity, workers’ rights, and real community power. From supporting groundbreaking workforce programs to organizing alongside working families, our open roles offer the opportunity to make meaningful change in the South Bay and beyond.⁠
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We're looking for driven, values-aligned individuals to join us in building a future where everyone can thrive.⁠
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Scan the QR Codes or use the link in our bio to apply! 🔗
🚨 May Day is OUR day 🚨⁠ ⁠ This May 1st, 🚨 May Day is OUR day 🚨⁠
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This May 1st, we’re hitting the streets with workers, immigrants, and our Santa Clara community—because when we move together, we’re unstoppable.⁠
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We're bringing our voices, our stories, our culture to the streets—because when our community stands united, no force can silence us, divide us, or steal our future.⁠
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We’re not just marching. We’re building power. We’re demanding dignity. We’re showing up for each other.⁠
⁠
📍 Story & King, San José⁠
🎉 Rally: 2:30pm | March: 4:00pm | Ends at City Hall with performances and community celebration ⁠
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📢 Calling all future organizers, advocates, and 📢 Calling all future organizers, advocates, and changemakers! ✨ 

Working Partnerships USA's Bill Leininger Summer Justice Internship application is now open! This paid, 8-week internship is your chance to dive into real community change work—supporting campaigns that fight for racial justice, workers’ rights, housing, and more right here in Santa Clara County.

Whether you’re a student, a new organizer, or just interested in movement work, this is an awesome opportunity to learn hands-on organizing, connect with mentors, and grow your leadership. You’ll be matched with a campaign that fits your interests and get to see the impact of grassroots power up close.

✨ Apps are due May 10—so don’t wait! ✨

This internship is open to everyone—if you’re passionate about justice and ready to make a difference, we encourage you to apply. Just bring your energy, curiosity, and commitment to community.

Apply today using the link in our bio! 🔗
🕯This year's Workers’ Memorial Day event was 🕯This year's Workers’ Memorial Day event was a powerful reminder of why this work is urgent and necessary. In a world where too many workers still face unsafe conditions, low wages, and a lack of basic protections, creating spaces to share knowledge, build solidarity, and honor those we’ve lost is essential to pushing for real change.⁠
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Through worker stories, hands-on trainings, and open conversations about immigrant rights and workplace safety, we created a space for learning, healing, and collective action. As we continue the fight for safer, fairer workplaces, we carry with us the memories of those we honored and the lessons we heard. ⁠
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The movement for workplace justice doesn’t end with a single event—it lives on in every worker who speaks out, every right we defend, and every community we build together. 💪⁠
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Shout out to @somosmayfair, @pawissouthbay @stepfwd.fdn @sccfairwrkplace @scc_rapidresponsenetwork and our volunteers who made this event possible!⁠
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If you or someone you know needs support, resources, or legal help, visit The Fair Workplace Collaborative website to get connected: https://wpusa.org/work/just-economy/fair-workplace-collaborative/ :link:
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WORKING PARTNERSHIPS USA
2302 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95131
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