Empowering Vulnerable Workers and Improving Knowledge:
Insights from California’s COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Projectand the Trusted Messenger Model
Authors: Meredith Sadin and Amy E. Lerman
Research support provided by Randy Clopton, Julia Leitner, Aparna Stephen, and Marie Warchol
In the Spring of 2020, COVID-19 barreled through California, disrupting communities, industries and workers across the state.
To compound this, the state faced significant challenges in reaching these vulnerable workers due to language barriers, misinformation, and the fear of retaliation from employers and immigration authorities.
In order to help support the most vulnerable workers during the pandemic, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) launched the COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project (CWOP).
In 2023, the Possibility Lab at UC Berkeley launched a study of CWOP to assess its effectiveness, mechanisms, and challenges.
Using a mixed-method approach, the study provides valuable insights into the program’s reach, the role of community-based organizations (CBOs), and the effectiveness of worker engagement in addressing workplace challenges.
The program's goals were to provide information about how to prevent the spread and mitigate the harm of COVID-19, and to educate workers about workplace safety laws, paid sick leave rights, and other COVID-19 related labor laws. Today, the program continues as the California Workplace Outreach Program to educate California's most vulnerable workers about their rights.
The program involved Formal Partnerships between the state and a network of community-based organizations (CBOs)
The state provided extensive
resources,
support,
and guidance
to a “Trusted Messenger Network”
of community-based organizations (CBOs) tasked with educating vulnerable workers who experience significant barriers to accessing information.
with workers since its inception (2021 - 2024)
Awareness and trust among California's vulnerable workers
Using a mixed-method approach, Possibility Lab researchers conducted interviews with
additionally surveyed,
The statewide survey included two embedded survey experiments to examine the impact of different outreach messengers and messages on workers’ attitudes and actions.
Selected Key Findings
In the CWOP-engaged worker survey, respondents were asked, “How concerned are you about the following issues at the place where you have worked the most over the last 12 months?”
Respondents top concerns centering on getting sick at work (82%), unsafe working conditions (81%), employer retaliation for bringing up issues in the workplace (81%), and not getting time off to care for others (81%).
The CWOP-engaged survey asked workers what they would do if they noticed a labor violation at work.
The CWOP-engaged survey asked workers what they would do if they noticed a labor violation at work. Only 21% reported that they would pursue an official complaint with a state agency. When further probed about their hesitance, many said they did not know how to file a complaint (46%), feared retaliation for speaking up (38%), did not believe doing so would change anything (35%), and thought the process might be too confusing or complicated (33%).
CBO staff further highlighted fear of employer retaliation and concerns about inviting contact with government agencies for undocumented workers or immigrants as a deterrent to filing formal complaints.
In qualitative interviews, staff recall instances of “connecting people to what they need” at the time and a “no wrong door” approach to assistance, irrespective of whether it’s generally what the CBO is “officially” set up to do.
“In the Mixtec community… they receive a letter, but they don't know how to read it. They ask me, ‘Can you read it for me?’ Sometimes it's just a notice that they received benefits or that benefits will be cut off by a certain date. But for them, it's a lot of help.”
“Many times, they come to us for a Medi-Cal service, and through that we start giving them this [other] information. They know where to go or understand that this is a space where I can feel safe and have confidence to speak.”
Workers described CBOs as a
“place of community,”
and a place
noting that these organizations provide
“they speak for us and help us file for things we don't understand...”
a “refuge,”
“that makes them feel supported as workers,”
“help, support and guidance,”
Meeting People Where They Are Approach
California agencies have recognized this advantageous role played by CBOs, crediting their “innovative outreach…reach[ing] workers on nights and weekends and through local community institutions such as churches, bus stops, public parks, food banks, and even workers’ private homes” with “creating a culture of trust, longevity and regular contact.”
Due to their ability to conduct outreach in informal, local, and social settings, CBOs are uniquely placed to bridge these accessibility barriers.
“...[I]f they come to us, we know their culture. If they speak any language, we immediately help them in that language so they can receive clearer information and feel more confident.”
Many CBOs report meeting workers at their homes or at work, or in places of social, religious, and recreational gatherings. For example, staff reported holding meetings with workers “outside in their yards,” at the “panaderías” where workers are picked up before dawn, at “every farm, every nursery,” in the fields, at construction sites, and “where they cash their checks,” as well as at churches, schools, clinics, and supermarkets. This model strives to make it as easy as possible for workers to get information and access resources and emphasizes the importance of a high-quality engagements As one staff member describes:
“We kind of deal with our community members like they're family members… and that's why people trust us more. Because we are there. We go to their houses. We go to the same place of worship they always go to, and then we listen to them. Our appointments are not just fifteen minutes long, it can go up to anywhere from thirty minutes to five hours. Yeah, so like it's not just transactional.”
“Our focus is always to empower them so they can stand up for themselves, to acquire knowledge so they can advocate for their rights. We look for leaders within the communities to invite their families to meetings and to talk about different topics or labor rights.”
“I know our goal is, as we're teaching them, are they going back and telling other people that they're working around them too, because we can't get to everybody and not everyone's going to come to us. So our best bet is [them] becoming that trusted messenger that first time and hoping that they are spreading the right way."
Opportunities and Considerations for CWOP Going Forward
Download the report to read our set of programmatic considerations based on this study. These considerations aim to inform future iterations of the CWOP model with strategies that can continue to support the state’s ability to carry out its critical mission of educating high-risk workers about their protections and lowering barriers for workers in receiving assistance.
Conclusion
Looking forward, CWOP’s evolution may offer valuable insights for similar efforts in other states and sectors seeking to leverage the unique strengths of government-community partnerships in the realms of outreach, navigation, and co-enforcement.
