BILL NUMBER: AB 735	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Keene

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2007

    An act to amend Section 512 of the Labor Code, relating
to employment.   An act to add Section 2750.7 to the
Labor Code, relating to employment, and making an appropriation
therefor. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 735, as amended, Keene. Employment:  working hours.
  work permits.  
   Existing law provides that employers may only hire United States
citizens, legal residents, or persons who are in the country legally,
and provides criminal and civil penalties for violations.  

   This bill would require persons who are not United States citizens
to pay a fee and obtain a California Work Permit in order to be
legally employed in the state. The Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement of the Department of Industrial Relations would enforce
these provisions. It would be required to create and maintain a
database of all work permits issued and employers could call to
verify a work permit prior to hiring.  
   This bill would require that the number of work permits issued
annually be determined by the division using a formula that takes
into account state unemployment levels and estimated workforce
requirements.  
   This bill would also impose, with certain exceptions, an
additional work permit fee of 8% on the gross wages of all employees
with a work permit which would be paid to the division and deposited
in the General Fund. Because these wage charges would be a tax, the
bill would require a 2/3 vote.  
   This bill would impose civil penalties on employers who violate
the provisions of the bill.  
   This bill would appropriate $250,000,000 from the General Fund to
carry out the bill. This bill would also create a special fund into
which moneys from the application fees and employer civil penalties
would be deposited for the costs of administering the permit program.
 
   Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, an employer to
provide an employee who works more than 5 hours per day with a meal
period of not less than 30 minutes and an employee who works more
than 10 hours per day with a 2nd meal period of not less than 30
minutes.  
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to this
provision. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
 no   yes  . Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated 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) California employers need the opportunity to check the work
permit status of their employees in a secure, reasonable, and timely
manner.  
   (b) There currently exists no method at the federal level for
employers to check the work permit status of their employees in a
secure, reasonable, and timely manner.  
   (c) There currently exists no timely access to a reliable registry
for employers to check a person's eligibility to work in the state,
and therefore reasonably comply with the law.  
   (d) There currently exists no method for immigrants to register
with the State of California to obtain a permit to work in the state
in a secure, reasonable, and timely manner.  
   (e) The intent of this statute is not to displace United States
citizens from the workforce, but instead to provide a secure and
accountable method for employers to hire workers in circumstances
where there is otherwise a lack of available labor.  
   (f) California employers deserve a fair marketplace in which all
businesses must equally be required to pay taxes on their employees.
 
   (g) California citizens deserve a tax system in which all wage
earners pay their fair share for use of public services.  
   (h) Workers in an underground economy are deprived of both labor
protections and the opportunity to contribute to the common welfare
of the state.  
   (i) Employers seeking to confirm an employee's work permit status
should have access to immediate confirmation, and applications for
work permits should be processed in a timely and reliable manner.
 
   (j) Once in place, employers who violate the provisions of this
act shall be subject to substantial penalties.  
   (k) Enactment of these provisions shall require a robust
processing and enforcement investment which shall gradually diminish
over time.  
   (l) It is in the interest of California to implement the Employer
Security and Accountability Act in a timely manner and to continue
its operation until the federal government passes comprehensive
immigration reform which renders these provisions unnecessary. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 2750.7 is added to the 
Labor Code   , to read:  
   2750.7.  (a) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall be
responsible for the creation, implementation, maintenance, and
enforcement of all of the following requirements:
   (1) All persons who are not United States citizens and who are
currently working or wish to work in the State of California shall
possess a California Work Permit.
   (2) Applicants shall be charged a fee of one thousand dollars
($1,000) to apply for a California Work Permit and shall be
fingerprinted for identification and security purposes.
   (3) The application fee shall be adjusted consistent with the
amount needed to cover the cost of registration, enforcement, and
implementation activities contemplated in this section.
   (4) Applications must be processed within 10 days of receipt by
the division.
   (5) Approved applicants shall be issued a California Work Permit
and a corresponding work identification number. Once approved or
denied, applicants may not reapply; it is a one-time offer.
   (6) Applicants shall be subject to a preliminary statewide
criminal background check. Any applicant who is found ineligible for
a California Work Permit due to a criminal record either prior to or
after approval of their application shall have their application or
permit voided immediately and permanently.
   (7) Application approval shall be subject to any other conditions
deemed necessary by the Chief of the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement to conform to the purposes of this section.
   (b) California Work Permits are valid for three years from the day
of issuance. If the worker has not filed paperwork leading to United
States citizenship by the expiration date of the permit, his or her
California Work Permit is permanently void, making him or her
ineligible to work in California under the provisions of this
section.
   (c) Workers who have not received United States citizenship by the
end of the three years are eligible for a one-year extension subject
to annual renewal, if they are able to provide evidence of due
diligence and reasonable progress that they are working toward United
States citizenship as determined by the division.
   (d) Employees with federal work visas, green cards, or any valid
documentation from any other federally authorized employment program
are exempt from the three-year limitation in subdivision (b) and the
need for one-year extensions. The applicable federal program's
timeline for the person's eligibility to work shall govern.
   (e) If an applicant produces a federal work visa, Permanent
Resident Card, or any valid documentation authorizing the applicant
to participate in a federal program during the application process,
the applicant shall be issued a provisional California Work Permit so
long as all other requirements are satisfied. The California Work
Permit shall remain provisional until the division verifies the
validity of the presented documentation.
   (f) The number of California Work Permits issued in California
shall be capped annually at a predetermined number, which shall be
determined by the division under a formula that takes into account
state unemployment levels and estimated workforce needs.
   (g) No part of the California Work Permit program shall be
construed to preempt any provision of the federal immigration law,
including a person's legal status in the country.
   (h) Enforcement of this section shall begin three months from the
date the first permit is issued.
   (i) The division shall begin issuing California Work Permits by
July 1, 2008, consistent with timelines specified in this section.
   (j) Employers found in violation of this section shall be assessed
a civil penalty of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per employee
working without a California Work Permit on the first violation.
Civil Penalties shall be increased to twenty thousand dollars
($20,000) per employee working without a California Work Permit upon
subsequent violations. All civil penalties shall be assessed and
collected by the division.
   (k) The division shall work in conjunction with the Department of
Justice in conducting criminal background checks on California Work
Permit applicants.
   (l) The chief of the division and the Attorney General may hire a
workforce as they deem necessary to implement and enforce this
section.
   (m) The division shall establish a telephone hotline for employers
to call to verify the California Work Permit numbers of potential
employee applicants.
   (n) The division shall establish a telephone hotline for
whistleblowers who suspect employers of hiring workers without a
California Work Permit.
   (o) The division shall establish a system whereby employers
calling to verify a person's California Work Permit will receive a
confirmation number to confirm the person's permit is valid. The
confirmation number shall be entered into the employee's record for
enforcement purposes.
   (p) Employers shall notify the division when they have hired an
employee with a California Work Permit. Workers possessing a
California Work Permit shall comply with all employment hours and
standards as defined by state and federal law.
   (q) The employment status of each worker possessing a California
Work Permit must be accurately reflected in the database maintained
by the division. At a minimum, employee records shall include the
California Work Permit holder's name, fingerprints, work history,
confirmation numbers, hours employed to work, hours eligible to work,
and all additional information deemed necessary by the chief of the
division.
   (r) The fingerprint and identification database controlled by the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement must be maintained in
perpetuity in order to ensure that employment and California Work
Permit status of each worker is accurately reflected, or until
superseded by federal law or repealed by subsequent state action.
   (s) All California Work Permit application fees and civil
penalties collected under this section shall be deposited into the
Employer Security and Accountability Act Fund which is hereby created
to reimburse the division, when appropriated, for costs associated
with administration, enforcement, and implementation of this section.

   (t) Employees with California Work Permits shall be assessed an
annual work permit fee in the amount of 8 percent of their gross
wages, to be deducted by employers, which shall be paid to the
division and deposited in the General Fund.
   (u) Employees with federal work visas or any valid documentation
from any other federally authorized employment program are exempt
from the 8-percent annual work permit fee in subdivision (u).
   (v) Fees collected pursuant to this section do not relieve a
person from any obligation to pay all applicable state and federal
taxes. Fees collected pursuant to this section may not serve as a
substitute or payment in lieu of obligated state and federal taxes.
   (w) The amount of two hundred fifty million dollars ($250,000,000)
is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to implement the
provisions of this section.
   (x) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Employer
Security and Accountability Act.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 512 of the Labor Code is
amended to read:
   512.  (a) An employer may not employ an employee for a work period
of more than five hours per day without providing the employee with
a meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the total
work period per day of the employee is no more than six hours, the
meal period may be waived by mutual consent of both the employer and
employee. An employer may not employ an employee for a work period of
more than 10 hours per day without providing the employee with a
second meal period of not less than 30 minutes, except that if the
total hours worked is no more than 12 hours, the second meal period
may be waived by mutual consent of the employer and the employee only
if the first meal period was not waived.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the Industrial Welfare
Commission may adopt a working condition order permitting a meal
period to commence after six hours of work if the commission
determines that the order is consistent with the health and welfare
of the affected employees.
   (c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an employee in the wholesale
baking industry who is subject to an Industrial Welfare Commission
wage order and covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement
that provides for a 35-hour workweek consisting of five seven-hour
days, payment of 1 and1/2 the regular rate of pay for time worked in
excess of seven hours per day, and a rest period of not less than 10
minutes every two hours.
   (d) If an employee in the motion picture industry or the
broadcasting industry, as those industries are defined in Industrial
Welfare Commission Wage Orders 11 and 12, is covered by a valid
collective bargaining agreement that provides for meal periods and
includes a monetary remedy if the employee does not receive a meal
period required by the agreement, then the terms, conditions, and
remedies of the agreement pertaining to meal periods apply in lieu of
the applicable provisions pertaining to meal periods of subdivision
(a), Section 226.7, and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders 11
and 12.