BILL NUMBER: SB 101 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 103
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 21, 2005
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 21, 2005
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 7, 2005
PASSED THE SENATE MAY 2, 2005
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 10, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Senator Battin
JANUARY 19, 2005
An act to amend Section 226 of the Labor Code, relating to
employee compensation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 101, Battin Employee compensation.
(1) Existing law requires an employer to furnish each employee
with an accurate itemized statement showing, among other things, the
name of the employee and his or her social security number, except
that, by January 1, 2008, existing law requires the employer to
include no more than the last 4 digits of the employee's social
security number or an existing employee identification number other
than a social security number on any check provided to an employee.
Existing law requires the state, or any city, county, city and
county, district, or any other governmental entity, if it furnishes
its employees with a check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's
wages, to, by January 1, 2008, use no more than the last four digits
of the employee's social security number or to use an existing
employee identification number other than the social security number
on that check, draft, or voucher. Existing law provides that a
knowing and intentional violation of this provision is a misdemeanor.
This bill would clarify existing law to require that an employer,
by January 1, 2008, include on the itemized statement provided to an
employee the last 4 digits of the employee's social security number
or an employee identification number other than a social security
number. The bill would further clarify existing law to require, by
January 1, 2008, that the state, or any city, county, city and
county, district, or any other governmental entity, if it furnishes
its employees with a check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's
wages, to use no more than the last four digits of the employee's
social security number or to use an employee identification number
other than the social security number on an itemized statement to
accompany the check, draft, or voucher. By imposing new duties on
employers, the violation of which is a misdemeanor, this bill imposes
a state-mandated local program.
(2) 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.
(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. 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 accurate 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 social security number,
except that by January 1, 2008, only the last four digits of his or
her social security number or an employee identification number other
than a social security number may be shown on the itemized
statement, (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, to any city, county,
city and county, district, or to any other governmental entity,
except that if the state or a city, county, city and county,
district, or other governmental entity furnishes its employees with a
check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's wages, the state or a
city, county, city and county, district, or other governmental
entity shall, by January 1, 2008, use no more than the last four
digits of the employee's social security number or shall use an
employee identification number other than the social security number
on the itemized statement provided with the check, draft, or voucher.
SEC. 2. 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.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to clarify existing law governing employee compensation,
it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.