How Prop 8 Affects Inmates’ Employment Rights in CA

California has never allowed slavery. In fact, California’s constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude – except as punishment for a crime. In other words, the state can force prisoners to work and for very little money. Some prison workers make as little as 8 cents an hour to perform forced labor.

Voters will have the opportunity to end this practice in November 2024.

What Is Prop 8?

Proposition 8 (Prop 8), also known as Assembly Bill No. 628, primarily affects state prisoners. It amends Section 2700 of the Penal Code, which details the work requirements of prisoners. According to existing regulations, able-bodied prisoners must engage in 8 hours of “programming” on 5 days each week. Programming may include:

• Labor
• Education
• Counseling
• Physical fitness

The existing regulations also say that anyone who fails to participate as required can face loss of privileges, such as earning good conduct credit.

Currently, about 40 percent of California’s 93,000 prison inmates have jobs, such as:

• Kitchen duty
• Janitorial work
• Clerking
• Fighting wildfires

According to a 2021 official estimate, California prisons assign 65,000 such work assignments to inmates every year. Unlike civilians, prisoners don’t get to choose which jobs they want to do. Critics of the existing system say prisons sometimes retaliate against prisoners who refuse dangerous assignments, and that this retaliation hinders the inmates’ future and interferes with their ability to focus on rehabilitation.

When passed, Prop 8 would make work optional – inmates can refuse to work without fear of punishment or retribution.

Prop 8 Does Not Affect Wages, But It Supports Inmate Rights

The new law does not require that inmates receive the state’s minimum wage guaranteed to workers who are not incarcerated. In April 2024, though, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation amended its existing pay schedule. This schedule details the minimum/maximum hourly pay for every skill level. The lowest-paid worker went from 8 cents per hour to 16 cents, and the highest-paid firefighter received a maximum daily rate of $10.24.

Existing law allows a board of supervisors or city council to order all inmates of a county or city jail, industrial farm, or road camp to perform labor for the county or city. It also requires all these inmates to fight fires when ordered, whether they want to or not.

Prop 8 would ban all servitude, and require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop a voluntary work program.

Are You An Inmate Or Family Of An Inmate Who Is Forced To Work For Low Pay? Contact Your California Employment Lawyers At D.Law!

Prop 8 affects employment rights of California inmates. If you or someone you love is working while incarcerated or awaiting trial/sentencing after January 1, 2025, they are entitled to certain rights. If a prison or jail system has denied those rights, take action now by contacting or calling your lawyer at D.Law. Our attorneys are experts in California employment law and in navigating the chances that Prop 8 will bring, and we can help you get the pay you earned while working in the Bay Area, San Diego, Fresno, Los Angeles, and other CA cities.