Bill Text: CA AB594 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 594

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

Bill Title: Labor Code: alternative enforcement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-10 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 659, Statutes of 2023. [AB594 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB594-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 594

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

February 09, 2023

~~An act relating to employment.~~ An act to amend Section 218 of, to add Section 226.9 to, and to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 180) to Division 1 of, the Labor Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 594, as amended, Maienschein. ~~Department of Industrial Relations.~~ Labor Code: alternative enforcement.

(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, administered by the Director of Industrial Relations, 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 within the department, among other entities, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, with enforcement duties and powers, as prescribed.
Existing law authorizes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the head of which is the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. Existing law relating to payment of wages for general occupations provides that nothing in those provisions limits the authority of the district attorney of any county or prosecuting attorney of any city to prosecute actions, either civil or criminal, for violations or to enforce those provisions independently and without specific direction of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
Existing law establishes a workers’ compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of employment.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain standards ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, as specified. The act charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcement of the act, subject to oversight by the Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
This bill would authorize a public prosecutor, as defined, to prosecute an action, either civil or criminal, for a violation of the Labor Code or to enforce the Labor Code independently and without specific direction of the applicable division. The bill, except as specified, would limit the action of a public prosecutor under the bill to redressing violations occurring within the public prosecutor’s geographic jurisdiction. The bill would authorize a public prosecutor, in addition to any other remedies available, to seek injunctive relief to prevent continued violations of the Labor Code.
This bill would provide that, in any action initiated by a public prosecutor to enforce the Labor Code, any agreement between a worker and employer that purports to limit representative actions or to mandate private arbitration shall have no effect on the proceedings or on the authority of the public prosecutor to enforce the code. The bill would further provide that any motion or other court filing that seeks to compel a public prosecutor to arbitrate a claim due to any agreement between a worker and employer shall be deemed frivolous and any subsequent appeal of the denial of any motion or other court filing shall not stay the trial court proceedings, notwithstanding specified law.
(2) Existing law prohibits any person or employer from engaging in willful misclassification, as defined, of an individual as an independent contractor instead of an employee and in specified acts relating to the misclassified individual’s compensation. Existing law, if the Labor and Workforce Development Agency or a court makes one of several prescribed determinations regarding the violation of those prohibitions, subjects the violator to specified civil penalties.
This bill, as an alternative to those civil penalties, would authorize the Labor Commissioner to issue a determination that a person or employer has violated a prohibition for recovery pursuant to specified recovery provisions as a civil penalty, through the issuance of a citation. The bill would prescribe the procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations issued under the bill. The bill would entitle an employee, for the same violation, to either recovery under the bill or by enforcement of a civil penalty pursuant to the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to enforce these provisions by informal hearing or in a civil suit.
Existing law establishes, within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Department of Industrial Relations, which is under the control of the Director of Industrial Relations, and establishes within the department the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is under the control of the Labor Commissioner. Existing law vests with the commissioner the authority to receive, investigate, and hear employee complaints regarding the payment of wages and other employment-related issues. Existing law authorizes citations to be served, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to strengthen labor law enforcement efforts and to protect workers from wage theft and other labor violations by expanding the authority of public enforcement agencies.

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

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

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Wage theft is widespread in California, and is particularly egregious in low-wage industries, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable workers.
(b) Companies continue to develop more sophisticated ways to evade accountability for labor law violations, including complex layers of contracting, the use of fictitious LLC and franchise agreements, reliance on app-based dispatch, and nearly ubiquitous use of mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment.
(c) Wage theft can take many forms, ranging from pay practices like group piece rate to standard misclassification and cash pay to requiring workers to clock out before working overtime hours or falsify timesheets.
(d) Existing resources are insufficient to protect workers or to incentivize legal compliance by employers.
(e) Wage theft and practices like misclassification do not only harm workers, they also create unfair competition for responsible employers who follow the law.
(f) The State of California and localities are also harmed when labor laws are not enforced because more workers fall into poverty, the safety net is eroded, workers increasingly rely upon public resources, and payroll taxes are not paid.
(g) It is essential that we maximize the tools available to public enforcement agencies to give workers access to justice, hold companies that break the law accountable, and secure our public safety net.

SEC. 2.

Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 180) is added to Division 1 of the Labor Code, to read:

CHAPTER 8. Alternative Enforcement
180.
As used in this chapter, “public prosecutor” means a district attorney, a city attorney, a county counsel, or any other city or county prosecutor.
181.
(a) A public prosecutor may prosecute an action, either civil or criminal, for a violation of this code or to enforce the provisions of this code independently and without specific direction of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, or the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, as applicable. Unless otherwise authorized to enforce statewide, an action of a public prosecutor under this chapter shall be limited to redressing violations occurring within the public prosecutor’s geographic jurisdiction.
(b) In addition to any other remedies available, a public prosecutor may seek injunctive relief to prevent continued violations of this code.
(c) The court shall award a prevailing plaintiff in that action its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including expert witness fees.
182.
In any action initiated by a public prosecutor to enforce this code, any agreement between a worker and employer that purports to limit representative actions or to mandate private arbitration shall have no effect on the proceedings or on the authority of the public prosecutor to enforce the code. Any motion or other court filing that seeks to compel a public prosecutor to arbitrate a claim due to any agreement between a worker and employer shall be deemed frivolous and any subsequent appeal of the denial of any motion or other court filing shall not stay the trial court proceedings, notwithstanding Section 916 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

SEC. 3.

Section 218 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

218.

Nothing in this article shall limit the authority of the district attorney of any county or prosecuting attorney of any city to prosecute actions, either civil or criminal, for violations of this article or to enforce the provisions thereof independently and without specific direction of the division. Nothing in this article shall limit the right of any wage claimant to sue directly or through an assignee for any wages or penalty due ~~him~~ them under this article.

SEC. 4.

Section 226.9 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

226.9.
(a) As an alternative to the process set forth in Section 226.8, the Labor Commissioner may issue a determination that a person or employer has violated subdivision (a) of Section 226.8 for recovery pursuant to Section 98.3 as a civil penalty through the issuance of a citation. The procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations issued by the Labor Commissioner under this section shall be the same as those set forth in subdivisions (b) to (k), inclusive, of Section 1197.1.
(b) An employee is entitled to only one of the following for the same violation:
(1) The statutory penalty provided for in this section.
(2) To enforce a civil penalty pursuant to Part 13 (commencing with Section 2698).
(c) The Labor Commissioner may enforce this section pursuant to Section 98 or in a civil suit.

SECTION 1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to strengthen labor law enforcement efforts and to protect workers from wage theft and other labor violations by expanding the authority of public enforcement agencies.