Bill Text: CA AB1601 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1601 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Employment protections: mass layoff, relocation, or termination of employees: call centers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 752, Statutes of 2022. [AB1601 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB1601-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate June 30, 2022

Amended IN Assembly May 19, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1601

Introduced by Assembly Member Akilah Weber

January 03, 2022

An act to add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1412) to Part 4 of Division 2 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1601, as amended, Akilah Weber. Call centers: protections.

Existing law generally regulates the wages, hours, and working conditions of people employed in any occupation. Existing law creates the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the head of which is the Labor Commissioner. Existing law prohibits an employer from ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination, as defined, at a covered establishment, as defined, without giving a written notice of the order to certain parties and entities, including the employees, the Employment Development Department, and specified local officials.

This bill would require an employer of customer service employees in a call center, as specified, that intends to relocate from this state to a foreign country to notify the commissioner at least 120 days before the relocation. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to impose, in the commissioner’s discretion, a civil penalty of up to $10,000, for every day of the violation upon an employer that fails to provide this notice. The bill would deposit the civil penalties into the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for administration and enforcement of these provisions.

This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to compile and publish a list of employers that provide the notice and make the list available to specified state entities. The bill would provide that an employer that appears on the list would be ineligible to be awarded or have renewed state grants or state-guaranteed loans for 5 years after the date that the list is published and would be ineligible to claim tax credits for 5 taxable years beginning on and after the date that the list is published, unless ineligibility is waived by the commissioner for specified reasons.

This bill would require a state ~~agency~~ agency, as defined, that contracts with a private entity for call center services to prioritize the work being conducted in California, as provided. The bill would exempt from this requirement contracts that are in effect before January 1, 2023, unless the contracts are renewed on or after January 1, 2023. The bill would require private entities that have contracted with the state for call center services as of January 1, 2023, to ensure that a certain percentage of its services are performed in California. The bill would preclude withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under any other state law to workers based upon these provisions, as specified.

This bill would authorize the commissioner to adopt regulations necessary to implement these provisions.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1412) is added to Part 4 of Division 2 of the Labor Code, to read:

CHAPTER 5. Call Center Employment Protections

1412.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Call center” means a facility or other operation where workers, as their primary function, receive telephone calls or other electronic communication for the purpose of providing customer service or other related functions.

(b) “Commissioner” means the Labor Commissioner.

(c) “Disaster” means an emergency or natural disaster proclaimed by the Governor to be a state of emergency pursuant to Section 8625 of the Government Code, or any other emergency or event, that prohibits the contracted private entity from operating in the call center or in any other facility operated by the contracted private entity within the state.

(d) (1) “Employer” means any business that employs for the purpose of customer service or back-office operations in the state either of the following:

(A) Fifty or more employees, excluding part-time employees.

(B) Fifty or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of hours of overtime.

(2) “Employer” does not include an affiliate of that employer, as defined in Section 150 of the Corporations Code, if the affiliate does not operate or utilize the impacted call center, or exercise control over the impacted call center’s employees or call center operations.

(e) “Overflow” means work volume that is in excess of the forecasted volume specified in the call center’s contract with the state agency and is an increase of at least 30 percent of anticipated volume when measured against the average monthly call or contact volume for the previous 12 months.

(f) “Part-time employee” means an employee who is employed for an average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has been employed for fewer than 6 of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is required.

(g) “State agency” means every state office, department, division, bureau, board, or commission.

1413.

(a) An employer that intends to relocate its call center, or one or more facilities or operating units within a call center comprising at least 30 percent of the call center’s or operating unit’s total volume when measured against the average call volume for the previous 12 months, or substantially similar operations, from this state to a foreign country shall notify the commissioner at least 120 days before the relocation.

(b) At the commissioner’s discretion, an employer that violates subdivision (a) shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for every day of the violation.

(c) The commissioner shall compile and publish semiannually a list of employers who provide notice pursuant to subdivision (a). The list shall be made available to all state entities that need the information for purposes of compliance with Section 1414.

(d) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) do not apply to employer activity that is in compliance with subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 1414.1.

(e) All civil penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund for distribution to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, these funds may be expended by the division to cover the ongoing costs of administering and enforcing this section and Section 1414.

1414.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employer that appears on the list described in subdivision (c) of Section 1413 shall be ineligible to be awarded or have renewed any direct or indirect state grants or state-guaranteed loans to that employer for five years after the date that the list is published, and that employer shall be ineligible to claim a tax credit for five taxable years beginning on and after the date that the list is published.

(b) The appropriate agency, after receiving a written request from an employer detailing the reasons for waiving the employer’s ineligibility under subdivision (a), and after consulting with the commissioner, may waive the ineligibility provisions prescribed in subdivision (a) if the agency determines that the applicant employer demonstrates good cause to do so, which may include job loss or adverse impact on the state.

1414.1.

(a) (1) Each state agency that contracts with a private entity for call center services shall prioritize the work being conducted in California. If more than 10 percent of the contracted call center services in a given month are being conducted outside of California, the private entity and the state agency shall notify the Commissioner no more than 15 days after the end of that month. The state agency shall also post on its internet website a notice to the public that more than 10 percent of the calls received at the listed telephone number are being transferred outside of California. This notice shall be placed on the internet website near the applicable telephone number.

(2) This subdivision does not apply to contracts that are in effect before January 1, 2023, unless the contracts are renewed on or after January 1, 2023.

(b) The Commissioner shall provide a report every six months to the chairs of the labor committees of the Senate and Assembly listing the state agencies that have been reported pursuant to (a).

(c) A private entity that has contracted with the state for call center services that, as of January 1, 2023, performs these services, in part or in whole, outside of California, shall ensure that at least 90 percent of these services, commencing December 31, 2023, are performed in California. A call center employee who is hired on and after January 1, 2024, by a private entity that has contracted with the state for call center services shall perform these services in California.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a), (b), and (c), if a disaster occurs, a private entity that has contracted with the state for call center services may utilize a call center facility outside of the state ~~for a maximum of 30 days or~~ until the call center’s facility within the state is operational, ~~whichever occurs first,~~ subject to agreement by the state agency.

(e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a), (b), and (c), a private entity that has contracted with the state for call center services may utilize a call center facility outside of the state for overflow for a period not to exceed 48 hours, or for a period previously approved by the state agency for that contract, to accommodate seasonal needs and avoid unreasonable, short-term costs for the state. Utilizing a call center facility outside of the state for overflow pursuant to this subdivision shall, at the state agency’s request, trigger a reassessment of the forecasted volume specified in the contract within a timeframe specified by the agency.

(f) This section shall not apply to contracts covered by Section 12140 of the Public Contract Code.

1414.2.

This chapter shall not be construed to permit withholding or denial of payments, compensation, or benefits under any other state law, including state unemployment compensation, disability payments, or worker retraining or readjustment funds, to workers employed by employers that relocate to a foreign country.

1414.3.

The commissioner may adopt rules and regulations as necessary and proper to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.