Workers file wage claims based on where they performed their jobs, legal experts say. 

A CalMatters analysis of claims filed with the Labor Commissioner’s office shows San Bernardino and Los Angeles – two cities with millions of low-wage workers in warehouse, garment, restaurant, and other industry work – had the highest numbers of individual wage claims. 

The data paints a partial portrait of where wage theft occurs across the state. It includes claims at the Wage Claim Adjudication unit for 2021 gathered from the department’s search portal and from a public records request. It does not include the Bureau of Field Enforcement cases, which involve multiple workers at individual employers.