Human Rights Lawyer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Supervising Attorney, Workers’ Rights

UFW Foundation

Department: Workers’ Rights Program

Reports to: Chief Programs Officer

Location: California preferred; open to candidates based anywhere in the continental U.S., with preference given to candidates near a major metropolitan airport hub to support occasional travel. Workers' Rights Program positions require active California Bar admission regardless of location.

Travel Expectations: California preferred; open to candidates based anywhere in the continental U.S., with preference given to candidates near a major metropolitan airport hub to support occasional travel. Workers' Rights Program positions require active California Bar admission regardless of location.

Salary Range: $85,000–$105,000 annually, depending on experience

Priority Application Deadline: Priority consideration will be given to applications received by Friday, August 14, 2026.

The Opportunity

Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related illness than the rest of the U.S. workforce. This is where that starts to change. Agriculture doesn't run without farm workers. The legal protections around them should not lag this far behind. This program does not exist yet. You would be one of the first people building it. You're not just taking cases. You're building the team and the playbook that will still be running this program five years from now. That is the job: not managing what exists, but creating what should.

About UFW Foundation

For nearly 20 years, the UFW Foundation has worked to ensure that every farm worker and immigrant has the opportunity to live and work with dignity, safety, and respect. That work now spans two fronts. On one front, we run one of the largest federally accredited immigration legal services programs in California, standing between families and a system that’s separating them faster than courts can hear their cases. On the other front, we’re building a Workers’ Rights program to confront wage theft, unsafe heat, and retaliation head-on. Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die from heat-related illness than the rest of the U.S. workforce. That is exactly the kind of gap we exist to close. Both programs are growing right now to meet a moment that demands it, from active litigation challenging a federal wage cut in court to public testimony documenting the human cost of immigration enforcement. Across California, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Washington, that’s what a farm worker or immigrant family can expect from us: dignity, safety, and respect, backed by lawyers who show up.

How We Work

• Hybrid: 2–3 days onsite at your regional office, remote the rest. Free parking at every location. Evening and weekend availability is needed at times for community events.
• Travel: Regular travel to hearings, worksites, partner organizations, and trainings.
• Team: You report to the Chief Programs Officer. You're building your team as the program grows, not stepping into an existing one.

What You'll Do

What follows are the core responsibilities of this role, the work that will fill most of your week. It isn't meant to be a complete list. Casework shifts with client need, court schedules, and whatever the organization needs most in a given season, and no list this short could capture all of that. This gives you a general picture of the role, not a complete list of everything it could include.

Casework & Litigation

• Oversee a docket of cases, including individual actions, class actions, and amicus briefs to enforce labor standards.
• Handle individual representation for wage theft, workplace retaliation, misclassification, and sexual harassment, in administrative proceedings (wage claims, unemployment, OSHA, retaliation) and in state or federal court.

• Conduct intake interviews, assess client needs, and give clients a clear analysis of their case, relief options, and next steps.
• Investigate employer policies and practices that violate wage, safety, or health protections.
• Identifies systemic violations suitable for class actions, amicus work, or policy engagement, and analyzes proposed legislation and enforcement policy affecting worker protections.

Program Build & Partnerships

• Design and operationalize protocols for a legal services program that doesn't exist yet.
• Own funder reporting, program metrics, and case management data quality for grant compliance.
• Build and strengthen relationships with worker centers, grassroots organizations, and other nonprofit partners.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise and mentor a regional team of attorneys, legal assistants, and fellows, reviewing work product before filing.
• Distribute and monitor caseload across the team, holding a consistent quality and compliance bar.
• Recruit, train, and mentor pro bono and low-bono attorneys to take on cases.
• Provide training and technical assistance to your team and coordinate with your supervisor.
• Identify patterns across cases, such as shifts in DHS state agencies’ practice, and translate them into advocacy or program adjustments.

What You Bring

• Active California bar membership, in good standing.
• Minimum 3 years of workers’ rights experience (5 years preferred).
• Functional bilingual proficiency in Spanish and English, sufficient to conduct a client intake or explain legal options directly without an interpreter.
• Valid driver's license and reliable vehicle access for regional travel.

Nice to Have

• Experience building, launching, or substantially redesigning a legal services program or initiative from the ground up.

• Experience identifying systemic violations suitable for class actions, amicus work, or policy engagement.
• Experience owning funder reporting, program metrics, or grant compliance data.
• Track record building relationships with worker centers, grassroots organizations, or pro bono networks.

UFW Foundation weighs lived experience, being an immigrant, farmworker, or low-wage worker, or growing up in a mixed-status household, alongside professional legal experience. If that is part of how you found your way to this work, we want to hear about it.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $85,000–$105,000 annually, depending on experience, with yearly increases tied to individual, team, and organizational performance.
• Health coverage: medical, dental, and vision, with the majority of premiums paid byUFWFoundation and pre-taxed.
• Retirement: the Juan de la Cruz Pension Plan (automatic enrollment, guaranteed 6.5% interest), a 403(b) with a 2% dollar-for-dollar match after90 daysproviding employees contribute a minimum of 2% of their annual salary, and a Fidelity 401(k) available from your date of hire.
• Time off: 2–4 weeks of vacation depending on tenure, 16 paid holidays including a floating personal day, 6 paid sick days, 1 mental health day, and 5 days of bereavement leave per immediate family member.
• Support: a no-cost Employee Assistance Program, free access to thousands of professional development courses, and a 20% discount on immigration services for you and your family.

Equal Opportunity

The UFW Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe a strong commitment to equal employment opportunity is more than a legal and moral obligation – it is also a sound business practice to realize the potential of every individual. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all! In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunity to all individuals, employment decisions at the UFW Foundation will be based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Except where required or permitted by law, employment practices will not be influenced or affected by an applicant’s or employee’s race, color, religion, sex/gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetic information, age, or any characteristic protected by law.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply for a position fighting for farm worker and immigrant communities! The UFW Foundation believes in second chances. As an organization, we will rely on individualized assessments in the hiring of those with past criminal convictions. The UFW Foundation will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with qualified disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act unless doing so would result in an undue hardship. Persons of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, persons with disabilities, persons who have lived in poverty, formerly incarcerated, persons 40 years old or older, and people fluent in more than one language are strongly encouraged to apply for open positions with the UFW Foundation.

This policy governs all aspects of employment, including selection, job assignment, compensation, counseling, discipline, termination, access to benefits and training. Our commitment to equal opportunity employment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination by any employee, including supervisors and co-workers.

This search is being conducted by QuantumPath on behalf of the UFW Foundation. If you need an accommodation during the application process, contact kim @ quantumpath.us.