National Institute for Workers' Rights

Dismantling Barriers to Justice

We make it harder for employers
to violate workers’ rights and
easier for workers to fight back. We make it harder for employers to violate workers’ rights
and easier for workers to fight back. Side view of group of multiethnic people protesting outdoors with placards and signs. People shouting with banners protest as part of a climate change march. Protestors holding worker rights banners at protest. Workers carting boxes in warehouse Business Presentation, Blurred Background. Businessman Giving Speech During Seminar With Coworkers In Office, Standing At Desk In Boardroom, Diverse People Sitting At Table And Listening To Speaker Court of Justice and Law Trial: Female Public Defender Presenting Case, Asking Male Witness in Front of Judge and Jury. Multiethnic Attorney Lawyer Protecting Client Against Crime, Injustice.

We Believe In

A Chef in a kitchen making hamburgers.

Economic Dignity

We aspire to a future in which all workers are treated with dignity and respect. We focus on shaping policy to achieve that reality.

Workplace Justice

Too often, employers violate workers’ rights and get away with it. We’re working to make it easier to enforce the law and get justice.

Future of Worker Advocacy

Workers deserve justice, and we help create more skilled advocates who can earn their trust and fight for their rights.

Employers Violate Workers’ Rights and Get Away With It

Employers steal an estimated $15 billion every year from workers and their families by failing to pay a minimum wage. This particularly impacts Black and Latinx workers.

47% of workers whose rights were violated never reported them.

98% of workers’ claims for rights violations disappear when the only option is private, forced arbitration without access to courts.

We envision a future in which all workers are treated with dignity and respect.

Our Approach

Research How the Law is and is Not Enforced

Empower Workers with Information About Their Rights

Educate State and Local Policymakers About How to Strengthen Enforcement

Drive Campaigns to Encourage Companies to Respect Workers’ Rights

Change the Narrative Around How and Why Individuals Get Justice

Dismantling Barriers to Justice
Blog • Economic Dignity

Is Corporate America Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

NIWR and Latino Justice Urge Public Pension Funds to Support DEIA and Divest from Tesla

The Institute, NELA, and A Better Balance File Fourth Circuit Amicus Brief on “Honest Belief”

Employers Risk Increased Liability by Backing Away from DEI Initiatives

The Right to Talk to Co-Workers and Management About Working Conditions: A Study of Enforcement at the NLRB

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