California Workplace Outreach Project (CWOP) Program Year (PY) 2025-27

Purpose

The objective of this iteration of CWOP is to build upon lessons learned and successes achieved in previous iterations, with a renewed focus on fostering an informed, safe, and healthy workplace culture across California. This initiative aims to not only educate but also to inspire action and change in workplace rights and safety practices, ensuring that every worker has the knowledge and tools needed to protect themselves and their colleagues.

Description

Strategic Components of CWOP 5.0/6.0: Comprehensive Education on Workplace Protections: Expanding the scope included workplace protections to improve workplace safety and health conditions for workers, combat wage theft and protection from retaliation, and provide workers information on their rights to benefits and medical care for work-related illnesses and injuries.Language: Continuing the commitment to diversity, outreach materials will be accessible in multiple languages, addressing the needs of California's diverse workforce.Outreach: Utilizing interactive activities to engage workers and employers in meaningful discussions about safety practices, rights, and resources regardless of immigration status. This includes workshops, seminars, and direct outreach efforts. Collaboration: Strengthening ties with CBOs, labor, and occupational health centers, and agricultural associations to enhance the reach and impact of the program. Rural Strategic Engagement: Targeted outreach and legal resources to support access to in-person services in under-resourced, rural areas for especially vulnerable workers. Priority Topics: workplace health and safety and hazards such as heat illness, paid sick leave, wage theft, Workers’ Compensation, anti-retaliation protections, worker-related complaint, and claim filing processes and procedures, and support filing complaints for workplace non-compliance. High-risk industries: agriculture, car wash, Food processing, including meatpacking, food service, including restaurants, grocery, and retail, janitorial and hospitality, warehouse/logistics, manufacturing, garment, residential care, and others as identified by CBOs. The Rural Strategic Engagement Program for CWOP 5.0/6.0 expands its reach to rural and agricultural workers with new services with its Rural Strategic Engagement Program. This program will offer in-person clinics for people to access services in farmworker communities, including legal assistance. ELIGIBLE COSTS -staff salaries, payments to contracted technical or administrative professionals, telephone, shipping, and postage costs, space rental and occupancy costs (maintenance, security, insurance, utilities, etc.), printing, advertising, and marketing costs, evaluation services and documentation (photo, video, audio, collection of statistical information, etc.), travel and conference expenses for staff and volunteers to attend DIR-sponsored or approved workshops, community convenings, collective impact table events, etc., production costs, materials, and supplies. INELIGIBLE COSTS-Due to the nature of this funding source (public): Expenses incurred outside of the funding period Brick and mortar or capital improvements/construction Elimination or reduction of existing debt benefits, fund-raisers, and social events Food and beverages Scholarship assistance for academic or non-academic programs political contributions lobbying activities legal fees not related to the Rural Strategic Engagement Program, religious programming, activities, or paraphernalia expenses for programs that occur in spaces that are not ADA-compliant. Insurance premiums as a separate line item.