Bill Text: CA AB2364 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Property service worker protection.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 394, Statutes of 2024. [AB2364 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2364-Chaptered.html
Assembly Bill
No. 2364
CHAPTER 394
An act to amend Sections 1420 and 1429.5 of, and to add and repeal Section 1429.6 of, the Labor Code, relating to employment.
[
Approved by
Governor
September 22, 2024.
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 22, 2024.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2364, Luz Rivas.
Property service worker protection.
Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and charges the department with specified functions, including fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of wage earners in California. The department consists of specified divisions, boards, and commissions, including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is headed by the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, known as the Labor Commissioner.
Existing law requires every employer of janitors to register annually with the Labor Commissioner and requires the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to enforce the provisions relating to the registration of those employers.
Existing law requires an employer to use a qualified organization to provide a sexual
violence and harassment prevention training, as specified, and to pay the qualified organization $65 per participant, except as specified.
This bill would instead require the employer, until January 1, 2026, to pay the qualified organization $200 per participant for training sessions having fewer than 10 participants, and $80 per participant for training sessions with 10 or more participants, except as specified. Each year thereafter, the employer would be required to increase the rate of payment, as specified.
This bill would require the department to contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center to conduct a study evaluating opportunities to improve worker safety and safeguard employment rights in the janitorial industry. The bill would authorize the university to subcontract the responsibility for conducting the study to other specified entities. The bill would require the University of
California, Los Angeles Labor Center and its subcontractors, if any, to issue a report no later than May 1, 2026, that includes certain information about the janitorial industry. The bill would further require the department, no later than June 15, 2025, to convene an advisory committee consisting of representatives from specified state agencies, labor and management groups in the janitorial industry, and other relevant subject matter experts to make recommendations regarding the scope of the above-described study, as prescribed. The bill would require the department, on or before May 15, 2026, to forward the completed report to the members of the advisory committee and specified legislative committee chairs. The bill would repeal the above-described contract and reporting provisions on January 1, 2027. The bill would make various other technical and conforming changes.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 1420 of the Labor Code is amended to read:1420.
For purposes of this part:(a) “Commissioner” means the Labor Commissioner of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement of the department.
(b) (1) “Covered worker” means a janitor, including any individual predominantly working, whether as an employee, independent contractor, or franchisee, as a janitor, as that term is defined in the Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
(2) “Covered worker” does not include any individual whose work duties are predominantly final cleanup of debris, grounds, and buildings near the completion of a construction, alteration, demolition,
installation, or repair work project, including, but not limited to, street cleaners.
(c) “Current and valid registration” means an active registration pursuant to this part that is not expired or revoked.
(d) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations.
(e) “Director” means the Director of Industrial Relations.
(f) “Division” means the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
(g) (1) “Employer” means any person or entity that employs at least one covered worker or otherwise engages by contract, subcontract, or franchise agreement for the provision of janitorial services by one or more covered workers. The term “employer” includes the term “covered
successor employer,” but does not include an entity that is the recipient of the janitorial services.
(2) “Covered successor employer” means an employer who meets one or more of the following criteria:
(A) Uses substantially the same equipment, supervisors, and workforce to offer substantially the same services to substantially the same clients as a predecessor employer, unless the employer maintains the same workforce pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 1060) of Part 3. In addition, an employer who has operated with a current and valid registration for at least the preceding three years shall not be considered a covered successor employer for using substantially the same equipment, supervisors, and workforce to substantially the same clients, if all of the following apply:
(i) The individuals in the
workforce were not referred or supplied for employment by the predecessor employer to the successor employer.
(ii) The successor employer has not had any interest in, or connection with, the operation, ownership, management, or control of the business of the predecessor employer within the preceding three years.
(B) Shares in the ownership, management, control of the workforce, or interrelations of business operations with the predecessor employer.
(C) Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner, officer, licensee, or director of the predecessor employer or of any person who had a financial interest in the predecessor employer. “Immediate family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandson, granddaughter, mother-in-law, father-in-law,
brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or cousin.
(h) “Production rates” means the average number of square feet the employee cleaned each hour during their shift, calculated by dividing the cleanable square footage of the property cleaned by the total hours worked to clean that square footage.
(i) “Shift” means designated hours of work by an employee, with a designated beginning time and quitting time.
(j) “Square footage” means a unit of area equal to a square one foot long on each side.
(k) “Supervisor” has the same meaning as in subdivision (t) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2.
Section 1429.5 of the Labor Code is amended to read:1429.5.
(a) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall establish by January 1, 2019, a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement to be provided by employers governed by this part for nonsupervisory covered workers and supervisors of nonsupervisory covered workers. The training content and qualifications for trainers for supervisory workers shall be consistent with the training requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The training content for nonsupervisors shall also be consistent with the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The qualifications for trainers for nonsupervisors are set forth in this section. The training required under this section shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, as long as the training pursuant to this section meets or exceeds the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, apart from the aforementioned distinction regarding trainer qualification for nonsupervisory training.(b) To assist in developing these standards, the director shall convene a training advisory committee to recommend requirements for a sexual harassment prevention training program. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Civil Rights Department, and shall also include representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, employers, labor-management groups in the janitorial industry, sexual assault victims advocacy
groups, and other related subject matter experts. The director shall convene the training advisory committee by July 1, 2017. The training advisory committee shall consider the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code when developing the recommended standard. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall propose the requirements for the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement by January 1, 2018.
(c) The director shall convene a training advisory committee to assist in compiling a list of qualified organizations that shall provide to employers the qualified peer trainers that employers shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors, as described below. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, representatives of janitorial workers, janitorial employers, and sexual assault
victims advocates. By January 1, 2021, the department shall make available on its internet website the list of qualified organizations that employers shall use to locate a qualified peer trainer in a particular county to provide the required nonsupervisory training. The qualified organization shall provide to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement the name, contact information, and service area of the qualified organization for inclusion on the website.
(d) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall require employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement to provide the training content developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) under the direction of the director, or as amended in the future by the director.
(e) (1) Employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement shall use a
qualified organization from the list maintained by the director to provide the required training to nonsupervisors. Qualified organizations shall provide qualified peer trainers that employers covered by this part shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors.
(2) Until January 1, 2026, unless an alternative payment option has been agreed to under a collective bargaining agreement, the employer shall pay the qualified organization as follows:
(A) Eighty dollars ($80) per participant for training sessions having 10 or more participants.
(B) Two hundred dollars ($200) per participant for training sessions having fewer than 10 participants.
(3) On and after January 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, the rates the employer shall pay the
qualified organization shall increase by the percentage reflected in the most recent annual average California Price Index Changes - California (All Urban Consumers) report issued by the Department of Industrial Relations.
(4) A covered employer shall document compliance with the training requirement by completing and signing a form, to be developed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, certifying that the training was conducted and that the qualified organization was paid in full, and the form shall be produced upon request of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. A covered employer shall also document compliance with the training requirement by ensuring that each participant sign in and sign out on a sign-in sheet, using printed writing and signature, at the commencement and completion of training, in addition to any regulatory documentation retention requirements adopted by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
(f) The training advisory committee shall recommend the qualified organizations to the director. A qualified organization shall be a nonprofit corporation as described in subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States (26 U.S.C. 501(c)), that on its own or through its training partners complies with all of the following:
(1) Have and maintain at least 30 qualified peer trainers who are available to provide training to nonsupervisors covered workers as required under this part.
(2) Have access to local and regional sexual violence-related trauma services and resources for local referrals documented through letters of acknowledgment from service providers.
(3) Be committed to ongoing education and development as documented by
a minimum of 10 hours of professional development each year for qualified organization staff and peer trainers in areas of research and strategies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment.
(4) Have seven years of demonstrated experience working with employers to provide training to employees both on and off the worksite in the janitorial industry, including seven years demonstrated experience working with immigrant low-wage workers.
(g) To be qualified as a peer trainer under this section, a person shall have the training, knowledge, and experience necessary to train nonsupervisory covered workers and shall, at the minimum, have all of the following qualifications:
(1) At least a cumulative 40 hours of sexual assault advocate training in the following areas:
(A) Survivor-centered and trauma-informed principles and techniques.
(B) The long-term effects of sexual trauma and the intersection of discrimination, oppression, and sexual violence.
(C) The availability of local, state, and national resources for survivors of sexual violence.
(D) Interactive teaching strategies that engage across multiple literacy levels.
(E) Conducting discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention training.
(F) Responding to sexual harassment complaints or other discrimination complaints.
(G) Employer responsibility to conduct
investigations of sexual harassment complaints.
(H) Advising covered workers regarding discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention.
(2) Have two years of nonsupervisory work experience in the janitorial or property service industry.
(3) Be culturally competent and fluent in the language or languages that the relevant covered workers understand.
(h) The director shall maintain the list of qualified organizations. The list shall be updated by the director with assistance from the training advisory committee at least once every three years. The director may approve qualified organizations on an ongoing basis, if they meet the qualifications required by subdivision (f). The fee per participant may be adjusted by the Labor Commissioner as
needed.
(i) The training advisory committee shall meet at least once every three years to review and update the list of qualified organizations and qualified peer trainers.
(j) A qualified organization may work with a training partner to provide the required training, provided that the qualified organization has entered into a written partnership agreement with the training partner. As used in this subdivision, “training partner” means a nonprofit, worker center, or labor organization with at least two years of demonstrated experience in addressing workplace sexual abuse, immigrants’ rights advocacy, and worker rights advocacy.
(k) (1) If the internet website list of qualified organizations that provide peer trainers to employers required to provide training to nonsupervisors under this section
indicates there is no qualified peer trainer available to provide training in a specific county, or if none of the qualified trainers are available to meet an employer’s training needs, an employer may use a trainer as prescribed by the Civil Rights Department with respect to sexual harassment training and education to provide training to covered workers working in that specific county.
(2) An employer governed by this part shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirement to use a peer trainer to provide the required training if they contracted with a qualified organization that was listed on the department’s internet website at the time of the training.
SEC. 3.
Section 1429.6 is added to the Labor Code, to read:1429.6.
(a) The department shall contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center to conduct a study evaluating opportunities to improve worker safety and safeguard employment rights in the janitorial industry. The University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center may subcontract, in whole or in part, the responsibility for conducting the study to another University of California Labor Center; the Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Francisco, Division of Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine; the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences; or the California Center of Occupational and Environmental Health.(b) The entity or entities with which a contract or subcontract is entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) shall conduct the study in the manner described in this section. No later than May 1, 2026, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center and its subcontractors, if any, shall issue a report that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Typical production rates in the janitorial industry based on cleaning frequency and the type of public and private sector facility being cleaned. The information shall be derived, in part and where available, from janitorial service contracts pertaining to the largest state and local government facilities, public university and community college facilities, and the largest commercial real estate and high-tech and biotech facilities in the following counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. The names of the contracting
entity and the janitorial contractor may be omitted in the report.
(2) Production rates before, during, and after the COVID-19 public health emergency.
(3) Assessment of the risk of ergonomic and other injuries associated with cleaning frequencies and production rates.
(4) Analysis of California workers’ compensation data in the janitorial industry showing types of injury, frequency of reporting, and cost of treatment over the last 10 years.
(5) The prevalence of wage theft in the janitorial industry and how it impacts production rates and worker recruitment and retention.
(6) Whether production rates and the prevalence of wage theft differ between employers that are signatories to
collective bargaining agreements and those that are not.
(7) The impacts of gender, race, national origin, disability, and age on production rates and compliance with labor laws.
(c) No later than June 15, 2025, the department shall convene an advisory committee comprised of representatives from the department, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the Civil Rights Department, a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers throughout the state, employers and labor management groups in the janitorial industry, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center, and other relevant subject matter experts to make recommendations regarding the scope of the study required pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) If the advisory committee
does not issue recommendations regarding the scope of the study by August 15, 2025, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center and its subcontractors, if any, shall complete the study pursuant to the factors listed in subdivision (b) in a manner that best fulfills the purposes of this section.
(e) On or before May 15, 2026, the department shall forward the completed report described in subdivision (b) to the members of the advisory committee and the Chairs of the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(f) In conducting the study required pursuant to subdivision (b), the University of California, Los Angeles and any subcontractors shall consider and be guided by the recommendations of the advisory committee, if
any, only so long as the recommendations would not substantially increase the cost of the study or cause the report to be issued after the required submission date pursuant to subdivision (b).
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.
