Bill Text: CA SB1342 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Wages: investigations: subpoenas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-07-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 115, Statutes of 2016. [SB1342 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB1342-Chaptered.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1342	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  115
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 25, 2016
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 25, 2016
	PASSED THE SENATE  JUNE 30, 2016
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  JUNE 16, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 26, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 12, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Mendoza

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to add Section 53060.4 to the Government Code, relating to
wages.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1342, Mendoza. Wages: investigations: subpoenas.
   Existing law authorizes the Industrial Welfare Commission to
subpoena witnesses. Existing law provides that if a person fails to
comply with an order or subpoena of the commission or a witness
refuses to testify to any matter regarding which he or she may
lawfully be interrogated before any wage board or the commission, it
shall be the duty of the superior court to compel obedience in a
manner by which such obedience could be compelled in a proceeding
pending before the court.
   This bill would specify that a legislative body of a city or
county is authorized to delegate that body's authority to issue
subpoenas and to report noncompliance thereof to the judge of the
superior court of the county, to a county or city official or
department head in order to enforce any local law or ordinance,
including local wage laws. The bill would provide legislative
findings in support of this provision.



THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) Wage theft is prevalent among immigrant and low-wage workers
in California.
   (2) Los Angeles County, where approximately $26.6 million in wages
is stolen from laborers every week, has been dubbed by some as the
"wage theft capital" of the United States.
   (3) The Economic Roundtable and the University of California, Los
Angeles, indicate that violations of wage laws in Los Angeles are
pervasive, with 30 percent of low-wage workers in Los Angeles
receiving less than the minimum wage and 88.5 percent of workers
experiencing some sort of wage theft.
   (4) Wage theft can cause workers extreme financial hardship,
making it harder for workers experiencing wage theft to take care of
their families and contribute to the state economy.
   (5) According to the Milton Marks "Little Hoover" Commission on
California State Government Organization and Economy, wage
enforcement resources in California have not kept pace with increases
in the number of employers and increased complexity of the
employer-employee relationship. Local jurisdictions, including the
City and County of San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles, and the
County of Los Angeles, have addressed the need for additional wage
enforcement resources by establishing local wage enforcement
agencies.
   (6) In California, 14 local jurisdictions have enacted minimum
wage ordinances. The majority of these jurisdictions have designated
or created local agencies to enforce local wage laws.
   (7) Local wage enforcement is an effective means of combating wage
theft. For example, San Francisco's Office of Labor Standards
Enforcement recovered 90.5 percent of wages and interest owed to
workers between 2003 and 2013.
   (8) Pursuant to Sections 25207, 27721, and 37104, and Dibb v.
County of San Diego, (8 Cal. 4th 1200), cities and counties are
authorized to delegate to local officials the authority to issue
subpoenas in support of enforcing local wage ordinances.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this measure
to promote honest pay for fair work by giving local wage enforcement
programs all of the tools necessary to conduct successful wage claim
investigations in order to recover unpaid back wages for hardworking
Californians.
   (c) Cities and counties are encouraged to develop and enact
specific measures to target and remedy wage theft.
  SEC. 2.  Section 53060.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   53060.4.  (a) The legislative body of a city or county may
delegate to a county or city official or department head its
authority to issue subpoenas and to report noncompliance thereof to
the judge of the superior court of the county, in order to enforce
any local law or ordinance, including, but not limited to, local wage
laws.
   (b) The Legislature finds and declares that these provisions do
not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law.