To: The Executive Director and Board of Directors of CAMFT

CAMFT: Protect Associates from Labor Exploitation

If you're an associate or trainee in California, there's a good chance no one told you what your employer is legally required to pay you. No one told you that unpaid hours are illegal, that you must be paid at least minimum wage for every hour you work, that you have overtime protections, meal and rest break rights, and required sick pay. No one told you that withholding your pay until insurance reimburses the practice is illegal. No one told you that you have the right to be reimbursed for business expenses, or that your employer is required to maintain accurate timekeeping records that reflect every hour you actually work. No one told you that you can report labor violations without losing your job or your hours toward licensure.  

These are your legal rights as a W-2 employee. You are entitled to be paid fairly and legally. Right now, most associates aren't. 

And CAMFT, one of the main organizations that represents this profession in California, has shown they understand the problem, but has yet to meaningfully address it. On December 3rd, 2025, CAMFT offered a comprehensive labor law training for pre-licensed professionals as part of their Pre-Licensed Virtual Summit and made it available in their On Demand Library. On March 3rd, 2026, they removed it. That removal was a choice.

Associates and trainees across California are calling on CAMFT to finally address the widespread labor exploitation of pre-licensed professionals who depend on their supervisors for the hours they need to become licensed, starting with these three concrete actions:

1. Restore the comprehensive labor law training removed from the CAMFT On Demand Library. Update and re-release it annually to reflect changes in California law. Expand it to cover all California W-2 employment rights for associates and trainees, including minimum wage, overtime, reimbursement of business expenses, required sick time, meal and rest break rights, being paid for all hours worked, the illegality of withholding pay until insurance reimburses the practice, split fee arrangement rules, misclassification, and anti-retaliation protections. CAMFT has staff attorneys. There is no excuse for associates entering supervised settings without this knowledge. This resource must be permanent.

2. Conduct a confidential survey of all associate and trainee members on wage compliance at their supervised settings, ensuring no respondent can be identified by their employer or supervisor, and publish the aggregate findings publicly within 90 days.

3. Revoke CAMFT Certified Supervisor certification from any CAMFT member found by the DLSE, a court, or the California Attorney General to have committed wage violations against associates or trainees. CAMFT's own program states that supervisors "owe those persons a duty to possess the knowledge and skills necessary to provide competent supervision." Exploiting the people you supervise is not competent supervision. It is a violation of the duty CAMFT itself has defined.

Associates cannot protect rights they don't know they have. CAMFT represents this profession. It is time they protect the most vulnerable people in it.

- Associates for Fair Pay

Why is this important?

If you've ever stayed late to finish notes without getting paid, attended a mandatory training that never showed up on your paycheck, or felt that asking questions about your wages might cost you your hours or your job, you know why this matters.

Labor exploitation in supervised mental health settings is widespread, normalized, and largely invisible. Associates and trainees are uniquely vulnerable: our hours toward licensure depend on maintaining a good relationship with our supervisors and employers. That dependency creates a power imbalance, and too often, it is exploited.

The goal of this campaign is simple and non-negotiable. Associates and trainees deserve to be paid fairly and legally. Not approximately. Not eventually. Not after insurance pays. Legally. On time. For every hour worked.

We are not asking CAMFT to do something beyond their capacity. We are asking them to do what they already know needs to be done: educate associates about their legal rights, document the scope of violations through a confidential survey, and create real consequences for certified supervisors who exploit the people they are entrusted to develop. It is time for CAMFT to act.

Every associate and trainee who signs this petition sends a message: we know our legal rights, we know who has the power to protect us, and we are watching. The more of us who sign, the harder it becomes for CAMFT to stay silent. 

 If any of the wage violations named in this petition have happened to you, sign. If you're worried they might, sign. If you want to protect the associate who starts their supervised hours after you, sign and share. 

This profession is built on the labor of associates and trainees. We deserve to be paid fairly and legally for it. CAMFT, it is time to act.