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See also: “Workers’ Boards: A Brief Overview”

See also: “Workers’ Boards: Frequently Asked Questions”

This report will be periodically updated.

Workers’ boards are governmental bodies that bring together representatives of workers, employers, and the public to set minimum standards for jobs in particular occupations and sectors. These boards—also known as wage boards, worker standards boards, or industry committees—investigate challenges facing workers and make recommendations regarding minimum wage rates, benefits, and workplace standards. Boards can also set scheduling requirements, paid leave policies, training standards, and portable benefit contribution rates. As part of their operations, boards conduct hearings and outreach activities as well as issue reports on their findings.

This report provides a road map for state and local government officials and advocates interested in developing policies on workers’ boards.¹

State and local action on workers’ boards is an important part of a strategy to help address wage stagnation, reduce economic inequality, and build power for workers. Workers’ boards complement policies that set base standards for all workers such as the minimum wage and paid leave.² What distinguishes workers’ boards is their ability to focus on the needs of a particular sector or occupation; their capacity to increase compensation for low-income as well as middle-income workers; and their flexibility to adjust standards to account for different levels of training and experience. Indeed, when the economist Arindrajit Dube simulated the effects of wage boards, he found significant gains at the 20th, 40th, and 60th percentiles of the wage distribution. His calculations imply that “wage boards are much better positioned to deliver gains to middle-wage jobs than a single minimum pay standard.”³

Research suggests that workers’ boards could help close the pay gaps that women and people of color face since compensation standards set by boards can limit the opportunities for discrimination.⁴ By helping standardize compensation in certain sectors, workers’ boards can also help ensure that high-road businesses that provide good wages and benefits are not undercut by low-road firms and can force companies to compete on the basis of productivity and sustainability rather than by lowering wages.⁵

By involving workers and their organizations directly in governance decisions, these boards also help build worker power; they are an important complement to policies that seek to strengthen unions and support collective bargaining.⁶ Labor law reform is critical to building worker power and reducing economic and political inequality in the modern economy. But, because federal law preempts most action at the state or local level to strengthen traditional union rights, collective bargaining, and strike protections for private sector employees, most of these policy changes would have to be accomplished at the federal level. In the meantime, however, workers’ boards can be established at the state and local level as a complement to existing labor and employment law.

Workers’ boards can ensure high standards and support collective action and voice for workers in sectors and occupations where union density is too low, or the firms are too fragmented, for collective bargaining to cover many workers. This is especially important as contemporary firms increasingly outsource jobs to subcontractors or otherwise organize work in ways that make it difficult for traditional worksite-by-worksite bargaining to raise wages.⁷ Workers’ boards can also help foster strong worker organizations, which can give workers greater power in the economy and democracy⁸ and potentially even lead to organizations that can engage in more independent bargaining.⁹

Workers’ boards differ from a task force or other commission that tends to be merely advisory in nature and often consists of members of government or individuals chosen at the sole discretion of a government executive. Workers’ boards, however, have greater authority to prompt the government to take action and are typically representative of workers, firms, and the public.

Although many states have some historical experience with wage boards, and although they once existed under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act,¹⁰ only a handful of states—including California, New Jersey, and New York—currently have wage board laws on their books. Today, however, there is increasing interest in creating and expanding workers’ boards and their use. The state of New York, for example, used a wage board to raise fast-food workers’ wages to $15 per hour in 2015¹¹ and recently passed legislation establishing a farm laborer wage board.¹² Seattle created a workers’ board for domestic workers in 2018.¹³ A growing number of cities and states, including Washington and Oregon, are considering similar proposals.¹⁴

This guide aims to help state and local governments design effective workers’ boards. The report explains the core elements and discusses best practices based on existing laws and proposed legislation.¹⁵ All states have the ability to implement these recommendations, as do cities with sufficient home-rule authority.

Specifically, this report recommends that legislation creating workers’ boards:

• Include a strong purpose statement and a broad mandate to improve wages and working conditions for all workers throughout the economy.

• Require that board members be selected in ways that are representative, democratic, and encourage public participation.

• Provide boards with the authority to gather relevant information through hearings and investigations as well as to issue comprehensive recommendations.

• Design boards with a bias toward action operating as adequately resourced institutions making regular decisions.

• Provide for a process that enables quick review and adoption of board recommendations.

• Create strong enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with promulgated standards.

• Empower workers to organize and participate in board activities.

This report provides additional details on these recommendations, explaining key concepts and providing examples of specific statutory language drawn from existing law or legislative proposals. The accompanying one-page overview and FAQ provide short descriptions of these concepts and other important information about workers’ boards.

To successfully improve conditions for workers, legislation on workers’ boards should contain a number of core features. These elements are described in more detail below.

Purpose and mandate of a workers’ board

The primary task of a workers’ board is to improve conditions for workers throughout an occupation, sector, or industry. In order to maximize efficacy, a board’s mandate should extend to improving wages, benefits, and workplace standards, and their purpose should be unambiguous. A clear purpose statement works to provide important direction to the board as well as to any administrative officials or courts that might ultimately review the board actions.

The nearly century-old laws that created the New York state and California wage boards provide examples of strong purpose statements. They clearly describe the harms that come from low wages and boldly state that it is the policy of the state to eliminate these harmful environments.¹⁶ For example, New York law states:

There are persons employed in some occupations in the state of New York at wages insufficient to provide adequate maintenance for themselves and their families. Such employment impairs the health, efficiency, and well-being of the persons so employed, constitutes unfair competition against other employers and their employees, threatens the stability of industry, reduces the purchasing power of employees, and requires, in many instances, that wages be supplemented by the payment of public moneys for relief or other public and private assistance. Employment of persons at these insufficient rates of pay threatens the health and well-being of the people of this state and injures the overall economy. Accordingly, it is the declared policy of the state of New York that such conditions be eliminated as rapidly as practicable without substantially curtailing opportunities for employment or earning power. To this end minimum wage standards shall be established and maintained.

N.Y. Lab. Law §650.

Still, these long-standing purpose statements could be improved, as they use language that is dated and, in some cases, too limited. For example, New York’s law focuses on wages while neglecting benefits and many working conditions. A Washington state proposal contains updated language. It emphasizes the harm that the fraying of the social contract caused and directs the boards to provide a safety net to all workers covered by the board’s authority.¹⁷ New statutes could build on this approach, acknowledging current challenges facing workers and directing boards to improve not only wages but also a broader suite of standards.

Decision guidelines: Statutes should also provide specific direction to boards regarding the standards to be achieved for workers.¹⁸

The federal Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act instructs boards to issue recommendations that

promote the health, safety, and well-being of domestic workers; and … achieve a living wage for domestic workers.

Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, S.2112 (2019), §201(a)(1).

Proposed legislation in Washington provides perhaps the most aspirational standard by calling for

wages and benefits necessary to provide for the full participation in society.

Wash. Senate Bill 5690 (2019), §37(1)(a).

The statutes should also empower boards to set wage scales that provide higher pay commensurate with greater skills, experience, and location.¹⁹ Critically, boards should be empowered to set minimums based on standards that prevail for workers with similar skills in similar industries so that the industrywide standards reflect standards achieved in collective bargaining as well as other goals.²⁰ The statute should also make clear that prevailing wages should not create a ceiling on recommendations. Thus, in occupations and areas where the prevailing wage is high, board recommendations could recognize that standard as the floor; in areas where the prevailing wage is low because collective bargaining is limited or nonexistent, workers’ boards should push beyond what prevails.

Board membership

For boards to function effectively, their members must fairly represent the relevant workers and businesses; that is, boards should not simply reflect the desires of the current executive. The selection process should encourage workers as well as businesses to join together in representative organizations. There are different ways to design a selection process to achieve these goals. One possibility is to enable a government official—typically the secretary or commissioner of the relevant labor agency—to appoint members based on certain criteria that ensure representativeness. This can best be achieved by requiring the government to select candidates that have demonstrated they represent a sufficient number of workers in the industry.²¹ Another option is to provide for the election of representatives. For example, the recent Maine home care ballot initiative would have created a system for all home care workers to vote for their representatives.²²

Where multiple organizations meet the representativeness threshold, the statute should specify either that the most representative organization should be selected or that several representatives should be selected proportionate to their representativeness. In cases where there are not yet any organizations that can demonstrate they represent a sufficient number of workers in the industry, nominations can be constrained to the organizations most likely to represent the interests of the workers and businesses.²³

The statute should also make clear how board membership is to be divided. Board membership is usually split three ways among representatives of workers, employers, and the public or the government. At times, however, it might make more sense to provide for direct negotiations between workers and employers by creating evenly split boards that incorporate an arbitration process in the event of a stalemate, subject to state or local governmental review.²⁴

The Washington state proposal includes the following exemplary board selection language for independent contractors and their hiring firms, referred to as “contributing agents” in the legislation:

(2)(a) Worker positions must be distributed among validated worker representatives²⁵ in accordance with the number of workers the organization represents. Validated worker representatives must appoint individuals for each of the seats they are allotted. 

(b) Contributing agent positions must be distributed among validated contributing agent representatives in accordance with the number of intermediary employees the organization represents. Validated contributing agent representatives must appoint individuals for each of the seats they are allotted.

(c) If there are more validated organizations than seats, only the most representative organizations are to be seated on the board.

(d) The director of the department must appoint the department representatives.

Wash. Senate Bill 5690 (2019), §36.²⁶

This language could be adapted for more general use.

Where legislation authorizes workers’ boards for multiple occupations or industries, each board would have separate membership. Boards called to make recommendations about the restaurant industry would, for example, include representatives of restaurant workers and employers, while boards about transportation or delivery would include workers and firm representatives from those industries. For boards that deal with a single sector, such as child care or home care, where consumers may be particularly motivated and organized to promote high standards, it may be beneficial to place consumer representatives on the board with workers and firms. Oregon’s proposed long-term care wage board act provides a useful model of this type of board selection process.

(2)(a) The commissioner shall solicit recommendations of qualified individuals from any source including a labor organization, provided that the labor organization maintains a membership of at least 100 members. The commissioner shall select members from the recommendations as follows:

(A) Three members who represent long term care employees;


(B) Three members who are employers who hire long term care employees; and


(C) Three members who represent the interests of individuals who receive long term care services.


(b) If the commissioner does not receive a sufficient number of recommendations, the commissioner may appoint any remaining positions on the board, in any combination, from among the following:

(A) An employer who employs long term care employees;


(B) A labor organization that represents the interests of long term care employees; and

(C) A representative of a long term care facility or other facility that is responsible for individuals receiving long term care services.

Or. House Bill 2490 (2019), §1.

The statute should also specify the size or size range of the boards. The choice of the number of representatives on the board reflects a compromise between providing sufficiently broad representation while maintaining a small enough group for ease of operation. Cities and states have found a variety of workable configurations. For example, the boards in New York have three members, or up to nine,²⁷ and California has five,²⁸ while Seattle began with nine and is increasing to 13.²⁹

In any event, all board decisions would ultimately be endorsed by the government in order to go into effect. A designated executive branch official would review the recommendations to ensure they comply with the statutory mandate.³⁰

Ultimately, the method of selecting board members is important for ensuring the fairness and efficacy of the boards. Selection strategies are also important insofar as they can help build power for worker organizations as they provide an incentive for groups to organize workers and a reason for workers to join.

Board authority and responsibilities

Boards need the authority to gather relevant information through hearings and investigations as well as the ability to issue recommendations that cover a range of workplace issues. These elements enable boards to make effective and well-informed recommendations for minimum wage rates, benefits, and workplace standards.

Investigations and hearings

Boards should have the authority to conduct fact-finding and outreach activities.³¹ These activities include ordering depositions, subpoenaing testimony, administering oaths, holding public hearings, consulting employers and employees, and conducting surveys. They also include producing reports and conducting public outreach about the programs, similar to what is outlined in New York state labor law:

The wage board shall have power to conduct public hearings. The board may also consult with employers and employees, and their respective representatives, in the occupation or occupations involved, and with such other persons, including the commissioner, as it shall determine. The board shall also have power to administer oaths and to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to any matters under inquiry. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by the chairman of the board, or any other public member, and shall be served and have the same effect as if issued out of the supreme court. The board shall have power to cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the state to be taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil actions in the supreme court. The board shall not be bound by common law or statutory rules of procedure or evidence.

N.Y. Lab. Law §655(3).

To improve upon the New York model, legislation could also require boards to hold a minimum number of hearings and mandate that workers and other affected constituencies be notified about the hearings. Engaging workers in the hearings provides an important opportunity for the board to receive information and also creates opportunities for workers to come together.³² California law provides important notification requirements.³³ The proposed federal Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act provides a model for general hearing requirements:

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board may hold such hearings, meet and act at such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Board considers advisable to carry out this section.

(B) REQUIRED PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Board shall, prior to issuing any recommendation under this section, hold public hearings to enable domestic workers across the United States to have access to the Board. Any such public hearing shall—

(i) be held at such a time, in such a location, and in such a facility that ensures accessibility for domestic workers;

(ii) include interpretation services in the languages most commonly spoken by domestic workers in the geographic region of the hearing;

(iii) be held in each of the regions served by the regional offices of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor; and

(iv) include worker organizations in helping to populate the hearings.

Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, S.2112 (2019), §201(f)(1).

Scope of recommendation authority

Boards should have clear responsibilities for evaluating and making recommendations on a wide range of worker issues, including wages, benefits, and working conditions.

Oregon’s proposed board provides a good model of broad authority not limited to wage rates. Its board would specifically examine challenges to recruiting and retaining long-term care employees. Similar language could be used to address working conditions for a variety of workers:

(10) The board shall:

(a) Evaluate and make findings regarding factors that may contribute to a shortage of a skilled long term care workforce including, but not limited to:

(A) Compensation rates; and

(B) Lack of health care benefits or other paid benefits including, but not limited to, paid family leave, sick leave or retirement benefits; and

(b) Make recommendations regarding:

(A) Strategies that define uniform standards for training and education for long term care employees;

(B) Proposed increases to the hourly minimum wage paid to long term care employees; and

(C) Improvements to working conditions, including work schedules and workplace standards relating to safety.

(11) In addition to the duties prescribed to the board under subsection (10) of this section, the board shall annually review the compensation rates paid to long term care employees in this state. The board shall prepare and approve by a majority vote a recommended compensation schedule for long term care employees.

Or. House Bill 2490 (2019), §1.

The federal and Seattle Domestic Workers Bill of Rights as well as the Washington state independent contract board also provide useful models for the scope of recommendation authority.³⁴

Board operations

The history of workers’ boards shows that some are much more active and do a better job promoting the interests of workers, while others can lay moribund for decades. To achieve the intended goal of improving standards for workers, boards should be structured with a bias for action. Boards should also operate based on democratic procedural rules. Finally, legislation should provide protections for workers if the board fails to act.

Permanent, staffed institution making regular decisions

The board should be established as a permanent institution so that it is always available to act³⁵ and should be required to issue new determinations every few years so that decisions keep up with the times.

For example, the federal Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act would require:

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Board shall issue recommendations to the Secretary.

Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, S.2112 (2019), §201(e)(1)(a).

A threshold number of workers or employers should be able to call the board to act in case there are significant issues in the industry that need to be resolved before the next regularly scheduled decision.

For example, under Washington state’s proposal:³⁶

Once any eligible worker representative provides a showing of interest by presenting evidence that they represent the lesser of two hundred fifty covered intermediary employees or one-half percent of the industry, the department must indicate that the organization is validated, and a workers’ board must be established in the industry.

Wash. Senate Bill 5690 (2019), §34(2).

Boards should provide compensation for members and/or reimburse members for expenses incurred during board activities.³⁷ Boards should also have the ability to use state labor agencies for administrative, logistical, and research support³⁸ and have at least one full-time staff member³⁹ to help with operations. Authorizing statutes should provide clear funding mechanisms for these board activities. Boards should receive funding through the agency that oversees them. This general funding can be supplemented by funds from penalties and fees. For example, a portion of penalties collected during enforcement can go toward board activities, as Oregon has proposed,⁴⁰ or employers could be required to contribute a small fee, similar to what Washington state has proposed to support board enforcement activities.⁴¹

Board legislation should specify a quorum, voting requirements, and the boundaries of action. Two-