The San Francisco Bay Area has some of the most stringent overtime regulations in the country, mandating for most employers a 40-hour workweek. Yet many employers ignore these rules, leading workers collectively to lose millions of dollars a year.

It would be great to track the number of violations of state labor laws recorded by the Calfornia Employment Development Department, see if it's changed over time, and whether it has any correlation with wider employment trends. It would also be instructive to investigate whether enforcement of these laws rises or falls depending on the party in power in Sacramento. Public-Press.org is looking for a skilled freelance reporter to do a story on this topic. CC your pitches to info [AT] public-press.org.