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Board extends $300,000 grant to Central Ohio Workers Center to continue wage‑theft outreach and legal referrals
Summary
The commissioners approved a $300,000 grant extension to the Central Ohio Workers Center to support education, know‑your‑rights outreach and legal referrals for low‑wage workers, including outreach to restaurant and construction workers who face tip‑pooling and wage theft issues.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on July 29 approved a $300,000 grant extension to the Central Ohio Workers Center to continue advocacy, education and legal referral services for low‑wage workers across central Ohio.
Curtis Brown, the county’s Community Partnerships administrator, said the award continues an initial 2022 grant and supports the center’s work connecting underpaid workers to legal help. Volunteer and communications director Molly Sheay described frequent cases involving tip‑pooling and tip‑related violations in the restaurant industry and said the center distributes hundreds of "know your rights" guides and runs in‑person outreach events.
An organizer on the panel said the construction industry also produces many wage‑theft claims and that the center strives to be a safe point of contact for undocumented or otherwise vulnerable workers. Commissioners moved, seconded and adopted Resolution 61625 to extend the grant.
What this funds: case intake, legal referrals, worker education and community events. What it does not: the award is a grant extension and did not change statutory or enforcement authorities; the center refers formal wage claims to state and federal wage‑and‑hour agencies or private counsel when appropriate.
