Warehouse workers typically do anything from placing orders, to packing boxes, to completing deliveries via truck or van, to stocking location orders and printing requests. Nonetheless, thousands of warehouse workers in Southern California's Inland Empire typically earn less than a living wage. Also, most don't have health care benefits and many hold temporary positions, according to researchers at the University of California, Riverside.

Blue-collar warehouse jobs are disproportionately filled through temporary staffing agencies, enabling warehouse companies to pay workers less and allowing them to evade granting health insurance to workers, said two policy research briefs released earlier this month. The pay for countless warehouse workers across the state of California and the nation, which is less than living wage, contributes to high poverty rates.

A majority of California's warehouse workers are young, male, Latino and have a high school education or less. Many are also immigrants. Workers contribute at least 20 hours weekly, and they receive an annual income of $14,000. However, income is higher among workers hired directly by the employer, rather than a temporary staffing agency.

More than 350 Inland Southern California warehouse workers in 2012 and 2013 were interviewed by researchers from UCR's Labor Studies program and the School of Public Policy's Center for Sustainable Suburban Development.

While 85 percent of U.S. workers reported they had health insurance, the same could only be said for 30 to 50 percent of Inland Southern California warehouse workers. These workers were far less likely to receive coverage from their employer. Severe illness or injury is required for two-thirds of workers to seek treatment from a medical professional, due to lack of insurance and cost.

The studies, which were funded by the UC Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, recommended that the minimum wage be raised to a living wage, particularly in the city of Ontario. They also recommended that temporary positions should be converted to permanent jobs, and the cost of deductibles for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans should be reduced.

"Warehouse workers in Ontario, like those in other Inland Southern California cities, would greatly benefit from the adoption and enforcement of living or minimum-wage policies to improve their wages, such as the local minimum-wage ordinance adopted by the city of Los Angeles in 2015," the researchers wrote in "Why the City of Ontario Needs to Raise the Minimum Wage: Earnings Among Warehouse Workers in Inland Southern California."

Additionally, researchers suggested that increasing local funds in the Inland Empire to enforce wage policies would help protect the rights of warehouse workers in Southern California, safeguarding them against wage theft. Such a move would not only benefit workers and their families, but would also stimulate consumer spending and eventually lead to positive effects on the local economy. Wage hikes have proven to help businesses stabilize employment and reduce employee turnover costs.

The other study, "Health Care Needs and Access among Warehouse Workers in Southern California," indicated that a reduction in the cost of deductibles for ACA health insurance plans would fundamentally improve health care access. The report also asserted that ACA's incentive structure encourages employers to utilize more temporary and part-time labor.

The researchers also believe that national labor law reforms could facilitate unionization among warehouse workers and other low-wage workers, which ultimately protects rights and access. Additional funding could limit workplace accidents and injuries, as well as fatalities. These recommendations could help reform the warehouse industry in which the workplace injury/fatality rate is three times that of the average worker, making it one of the most dangerous industries in the nation according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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