BILL NUMBER: AB 46 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 6, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 22, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Simitian
DECEMBER 2, 2002
An act to add Section 1798.85.1 to the Civil Code, to amend
Section 226 of the Labor Code, and to add Section 667.13 to, the
Penal Code, relating to identity theft.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 46, as amended, Simitian. Identity theft.
Existing law prohibits any person or entity, not including a state
or local agency, from using an individual's social security number
in specified ways, including posting it publicly or requiring it for
access to products or services. Existing law provides specified
exceptions from the above provisions.
This bill would, in addition, prohibit any private or public
university or college in California from using a student's social
security number for identification in a manner that is available to
the public or an unauthorized third party. The bill would permit the
use of a student's social security number for identification for
communication with a 3rd party who is authorized by the student to
receive it. Each university or college would be authorized to
develop a system of personal identifiers for students to be used for
grading and other administrative purposes, however the personal
identifiers could not be social security numbers. The bill would
also prohibit an employer from requiring an employee to use his or
her social security number in a manner that is available to the
public or an unauthorized 3rd party.
Existing law requires that every employer, semimonthly or at the
time of each payment of wages, furnish each of his or her employees,
either as a detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying
the employee's wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal
check or cash, an itemized statement in writing showing, among other
things, the name of the employee and his or her social security
number.
This bill would remove the requirement that the statement show the
employee's social security number and would instead require the
employer to show the employee's personal identification number if the
employer has established an employee identification number system
that uses a personal identifier other than the employee's social
security number.
Existing law makes every person who willfully obtains personal
identifying information of another person, and uses that information
for any unlawful purpose, guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony.
Existing law makes it a crime to falsely personate a person so as
to do any an act that would render the person impersonated liable for
a suit or prosecution.
The bill would create a one-year enhancement for any person who
commits is convicted of a felony for
committing false personation in those circumstances ,
or who unlawfully uses
using personal identifying information, against
a person who is under 18 years of age at the time the crime was
committed and the victim's age is known or reasonably should have
been known to the person committing the crime. Because this bill
would create a new enhancement, it would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1798.85.1 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1798.85.1. In addition to Section 1798.85, the following
restrictions on the use of social security numbers shall apply:
(a) (1) A public or private university or college in California
may not use a student's social security number for identification in
a manner that is available to the public or an unauthorized third
party.
(2) A public or private university or college in California may
use a student's social security number for identification for
communication with a third party who is authorized by the student to
receive it.
(3) Each university or college may develop a system of personal
identifiers for students to be used for grading and other
administrative purposes. The personal identifiers shall not be
social security numbers.
(b) An employer may not require an employee to use his or her
social security number in a manner that is available to the public or
an unauthorized third party.
SEC. 2. Section 226 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
226. (a) Every employer shall, semimonthly or at the time of each
payment of wages, furnish each of his or her employees, either as a
detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's
wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal check or cash,
an itemized statement in writing showing (1) gross wages earned, (2)
total hours worked by the employee, except for any employee whose
compensation is solely based on a salary and who is exempt from
payment of overtime under subdivision (a) of Section 515 or any
applicable order of the Industrial Welfare Commission, (3) the number
of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if the
employee is paid on a piece-rate basis, (4) all deductions, provided,
that all deductions made on written orders of the employee may be
aggregated and shown as one item, (5) net wages earned, (6) the
inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid, (7) the
name of the employee and his or her personal identification number
if the employer has established an employee identification number
system that uses a personal identifier other than the employee's
social security number, (8) the name and address of the legal entity
that is the employer, and (9) all applicable hourly rates in effect
during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at
each hourly rate by the employee. The deductions made from payments
of wages shall be recorded in ink or other indelible form, properly
dated, showing the month, day, and year, and a copy of the statement
or a record of the deductions shall be kept on file by the employer
for at least three years at the place of employment or at a central
location within the State of California.
(b) An employer that is required by this code or any regulation
adopted pursuant to this code to keep the information required by
subdivision (a) shall afford current and former employees the right
to inspect or copy the records pertaining to that current or former
employee, upon reasonable request to the employer. The employer may
take reasonable steps to assure the identity of a current or former
employee. If the employer provides copies of the records, the actual
cost of reproduction may be charged to the current or former
employee.
(c) An employer who receives a written or oral request to inspect
or copy records pursuant to subdivision (b) pertaining to a current
or former employee shall comply with the request as soon as
practicable, but no later than 21 calendar days from the date of the
request. A violation of this subdivision is an infraction.
Impossibility of performance, not caused by or a result of a
violation of law, shall be an affirmative defense for an employer in
any action alleging a violation of this subdivision. An employer may
designate the person to whom a request under this subdivision will
be made.
(d) This section does not apply to any employer of any person
employed by the owner or occupant of a residential dwelling whose
duties are incidental to the ownership, maintenance, or use of the
dwelling, including the care and supervision of children, or whose
duties are personal and not in the course of the trade, business,
profession, or occupation of the owner or occupant.
(e) An employee suffering injury as a result of a knowing and
intentional failure by an employer to comply with subdivision (a) is
entitled to recover the greater of all actual damages or fifty
dollars ($50) for the initial pay period in which a violation occurs
and one hundred dollars ($100) per employee for each violation in a
subsequent pay period, not exceeding an aggregate penalty of four
thousand dollars ($4,000), and is entitled to an award of costs and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(f) A failure by an employer to permit a current or former
employee to inspect or copy records within the time set forth in
subdivision (c) entitles the current or former employee or the Labor
Commissioner to recover a seven hundred fifty dollar ($750) penalty
from the employer.
(g) An employee may also bring an action for injunctive relief to
ensure compliance with this section, and is entitled to an award of
costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
(h) This section does not apply to the state, or any city, county,
city and county, district, or any other governmental entity.
SEC. 3. Section 667.13 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
667.13. Any person who commits is
convicted of a felony for the commission of false personation
as defined in paragraph (3) of Section 529 or identity theft as
defined in Section 530.5 against a person who is under 18 years of
age and the victim's age is known or reasonably should have been
known to the person committing the crime, shall receive a one-year
enhancement.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.