Existing law establishes the Attorney General as the head of the Department of Justice, with charge of all legal matters in which the state is interested, except as specified. Existing law requires the Attorney General, whenever they deem it advisable or necessary in the public interest, or when directed to do so by the Governor, to assist any district attorney in the discharge of the district attorney’s duties, and authorizes them to take full charge of any investigation or prosecution of violations of law, as specified. Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and vests it with various powers and duties to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance
their opportunities for profitable employment. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Department within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and sets forth its powers and duties relating to enforcement of civil rights laws.
This bill would establish within the Department of Justice the Labor Trafficking Unit, and would require the unit to be the centralized enforcement, referral, and investigative unit to combat labor trafficking and to coordinate with the Labor Enforcement Task Force, other specified task forces, and the Civil Rights
Department. Unit. The bill would require the unit to receive, investigate, and process complaints alleging labor trafficking and take steps to prevent labortrafficking. receive labor trafficking reports and complaints from law enforcement agencies and other governmental entities and refer the reports or complaints to appropriate agencies for investigation, prosecution, or other remedies. The bill would require the unit to coordinate with certain state agencies, including, among others, the Department of Industrial Relations and the Civil Rights Department. The bill would authorize the unit to coordinate with other relevant state agencies, as specified, state and local law enforcement agencies, tribal law enforcement agencies, and
district attorneys’ offices. The bill would require the unit to make efforts to ensure that local, state, and tribal entities use a victim-centered approach when receiving and processing victim reports or complaints of labor trafficking and when reporting suspected labor trafficking to the unit. The bill would require the unit to follow protocols to ensure survivors of labor trafficking are not further victimized by the process of reporting, investigating, or prosecuting labor traffickers a victim-centered approach when processing labor trafficking reports or complaints and ensure that victims are informed of the services
and options available to them.
them, as specified.
The bill would require members of the Labor Enforcement Task Force, members of the Tax Recovery in the Underground Economy Criminal Enforcement Program investigative teams, members of the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy, the Department of Industrial Relations and the Civil Rights Department to collaborate with the unit to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to track, record, and report potential labor trafficking activity. to the unit. The bill would require those entities to train their investigators who are most likely to encounter labor trafficking to recognize warning signs of potential labor trafficking and to report to the unit when, upon investigating businesses under their purview, there is evidence of labor trafficking.
The bill would require the unit to develop a tracking and reporting system to collect reports from those entities on labor trafficking reports and complaints
and would require the reports to be aggregated and analyzed to identify potential complaints labor trafficking reports and complaints to be further investigated by the Department of Justice or referred for civil action or action, criminal prosecution, or other remedy, as specified, pursuant to the bill.
specified. The bill would also require the unit, beginning January 1, 2026, and until January 1, 2036, from April 1, 2027, to January 1, 2036, inclusive, to annually submit a specified report to the Legislature with specified information relating to labor trafficking complaints or referrals, reports, including the number, types, and outcomes
number and type of complaints or referrals. reports, complaints, or referrals. The bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations and the Civil Rights Department to report this information to the unit on a quarterly basis and report suspected labor trafficking immediately to the unit, as specified. The bill would specify that the bill’s operation is contingent upon adequate appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the bill’s purposes. If the Legislature does not appropriate adequate funding by January 1, 2030, the bill would repeal its provisions and require the Department of Justice to file with the Secretary of State by January 1, 2030, the department’s determination that the Legislature has not appropriated adequate funding.