AB 795,
as amended, Low. Employment: Department of Industrial Relations: wagebegin delete claims.end deletebegin insert claims and retaliation complaints.end insert
Existing law establishesbegin insert withinend insert the Department of Industrial Relationsbegin delete to, among other things, enforce labor laws, including wage claimsend deletebegin insert the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is vested with the general duty of enforcing labor laws, including those relating to wage claims and employer retaliation. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner, defined as the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, to establish and maintain a field enforcement unit in order to ensure that minimum labor standards are met. Existing law requires the commissioner to report annually to the Legislature, not later
than March 1, concerning the effectiveness of the field enforcement unit, as specifiedend insert.
This bill would require thebegin delete department to reportend deletebegin insert Labor Commissioner to include in its reportend insert to the Legislature,begin delete for each office, the amount of time it takes for all wage claims to receive a preliminary hearing dateend deletebegin insert as described above, specified information on the status of wage claims and retaliation complaints, including the average amount of time it takes for a wage claim to receive a preliminary hearing and the current backlog of claims and end insertbegin insertcomplaintsend insert.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertSection 90.5 of the end insertbegin insertLabor Codeend insertbegin insert is amended to
2read:end insert
(a) It is the policy of this state to vigorously enforce
4minimum labor standards in order to ensure employees are not
5required or permitted to work under substandard unlawful
6conditions or for employers that have not secured the payment of
7compensation, and to protect employers who comply with the law
8from those who attempt to gain a competitive advantage at the
9expense of their workers by failing to comply with minimum labor
10standards.
11(b) In order to ensure that minimum labor standards are
12adequately enforced, the Labor Commissioner shall establish and
13maintain a field enforcement unit, which shall be administratively
14and physically separate from offices of the division that accept
15and determine individual employee
complaints. The unit shall have
16offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego,
17Sacramento, and any other locations that the Labor Commissioner
18deems appropriate. The unit shall have primary responsibility for
19administering and enforcing those statutes and regulations most
20effectively enforced through field investigations, including Sections
21226, 1021, 1021.5, 1193.5, 1193.6, 1194.5, 1197, 1198, 1771,
221776, 1777.5, 2651, 2673, 2675, and 3700, in accordance with the
23plan adopted by the Labor Commissioner pursuant to subdivision
24(c). Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority
25of this unit in enforcing any statute or regulation in the course of
26its investigations.
27(c) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt an enforcement plan
28for the field enforcement unit. The plan shall identify priorities for
29investigations to be undertaken by the unit that ensure the available
30resources will be concentrated in industries,
occupations, and areas
31in which employees are relatively low paid and unskilled, and
32those in which there has been a history of violations of the statutes
P3 1cited in subdivision (b), and those with high rates of noncompliance
2with Section 3700.
3(d) The Labor Commissioner shall annually report to the
4Legislature, not later than March 1, concerning the begin deleteeffectivenessend delete
5begin insert following:end insert
6begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insertThe effectivenessend insert of the
field enforcement unit.begin delete Theend deletebegin insert
This
7part of theend insert report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
8following:
9(1)
end delete
10begin insert(A)end insert The enforcement plan adopted by the Labor Commissioner
11pursuant to subdivision (c), and the rationale for the priorities
12identified in the plan.
13(2)
end delete
14begin insert(B)end insert The number of establishments investigated by the unit,
and
15the number of types of violations found.
16(3)
end delete
17begin insert(Cend insertbegin insert)end insert The amount of wages found to be unlawfully withheld from
18workers, and the amount of unpaid wages recovered for workers.
19(4)
end delete
20begin insert(Dend insertbegin insert)end insert The amount of penalties and unpaid wages transferred to
21the General Fund as a result of the efforts of the unit.
22(2) The status of wage claims and retaliation complaints. This
23part of the report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
24following:
25(A) The average amount of time it takes for a wage claim to
26receive a preliminary hearing.
27(B) The number of determinations issued, the number of
28investigative hearings held, the number of complaints dismissed,
29and the number of complaints found valid, grouped by the year in
30which the complaints were filed.
31(C) An update on the division’s current backlog of wage claims
32and retaliation complaints.
33(e) The report required by subdivision (d) shall be provided in
34compliance with the provisions of Section 9795 of the Government
35Code.
Section 63.5 is added to the Labor Code, 37immediately following Section 63, to read:
(a) The Department of Industrial Relations shall report
39to the Legislature, for each office, the amount of time it takes for
40all wage claims to receive a preliminary hearing date.
P4 1(b) The report to the Legislature pursuant to this sections shall
2be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
3Code.
4(c) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020,
5pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
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