The 9th Circuit has certified the following question to the California Supreme Court:

Do non-convicted incarcerated individuals performing services in county jails for a for-profit company to supply meals within the county jails and related custody facilities have a claim for minimum wages and overtime under Section 1194 of the California Labor Code in the absence of any local ordinance prescribing or prohibiting the payment of wages for these individuals?

Ruelas v. County of Alameda (9th Cir 11/01/2022) [PDF].

Plaintiffs are or were pretrial detainees, detainees facing deportation, or federal detainees confined in Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail. Plaintiffs are or were performing industrial food preparation services and cleaning for defendant Aramark Correctional Services, LLC (“Aramark”), pursuant to a contract between Aramark and Alameda County. Aramark is a private, for-profit company. This contract was enabled by California Proposition 139, which legalized public-private partnerships of this kind.

Plaintiffs allege that Aramark employs detainees in the Santa Rita Jail without compensating them. Alameda County has not enacted a local ordinance providing for compensation to county detainees for services performed.