BILL NUMBER: AB 55	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  JULY 11, 2011
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 2, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        DECEMBER 6, 2010

   An act to amend Section 679 of the Unemployment Insurance Code,
relating to unemployment insurance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 55, Gatto. Unemployment compensation: employer: motion picture
industry.
   Existing unemployment insurance law requires any employing unit
that is a motion picture payroll services company, as defined, to be
treated as an employer of a motion picture production worker, as
defined, and to file a statement of intent with the Employment
Development Department. Existing law requires any employment unit
operating as a motion picture payroll services company that quits
business to file with the director a final return and report of
wages, as provided, and to notify the motion picture production
companies and allied motion picture services of its intent to quit
business, as provided. Existing law requires the employing unit's
status to be applied to its affiliated entities, as defined. Existing
law requires the director to notify an entity, as provided, that
does not satisfy the requirements of a motion picture payroll
services company, as provided, of the facts and circumstances upon
which the determination was made. Existing law authorizes the
department to make a specified report to the Legislature. Existing
law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2012.
   This bill would delete the authorization of the department to make
the report and the January 1, 2012, repeal date.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 679 of the Unemployment Insurance Code is
amended to read:
   679.  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 606.5, 621, and 678, for the
purposes of this code, "employer" means any employing unit that is a
motion picture payroll services company that pays and controls the
payment of wages of a motion picture production worker for services
either to a motion picture production company or to an allied motion
picture services company, and files a timely statement of its intent
to be the employer of motion picture production workers pursuant to
subdivision (b).
   (b) (1) Any employing unit meeting the requirements of a motion
picture payroll services company that intends to be treated as an
employer of motion picture production workers pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall file a statement with the department that declares its
intent to be the employer of motion picture production workers,
pursuant to this section, within 15 days after first paying wages to
the workers. The statement shall include identification of each
affiliated entity.
   (2) Any employing unit operating as a motion picture payroll
services company as of January 1, 2007, that intends to be treated as
an employer of motion picture production workers pursuant to this
section, shall file a statement with the department that declares its
intent to be the employer of motion picture production workers,
pursuant to this section, by January 15, 2007. The statement shall
include identification of each affiliated entity.
   (3) Any motion picture payroll company that quits business shall:
   (A) Within 10 days of quitting business:
   (i) File with the director, a final return and report of wages of
its workers, as required by Section 1116.
   (ii) File all statements required by this subdivision.
   (B) Forty-five days in advance of quitting business, notify each
motion picture production company and allied motion picture services
company, with respect to which they have been treated as the employer
of the motion picture production workers, of its intent to quit
business.
   (4) The director may prevent a motion picture payroll services
company that fails to file a timely statement from being treated as
an employer of motion picture production workers, for a period not to
exceed the period for which the statement is required.
   (5) Any statement filed by a motion picture payroll services
company pursuant to this subdivision shall be applied to each
affiliated entity of the motion picture payroll services company in
existence at the time the statement is filed.
   (c) For each rating period beginning on or after January 1, 2007,
in which an employer operating as a motion picture payroll services
company obtains or attempts to obtain a more favorable rate of
contributions under this section in a manner that is due to
deliberate ignorance, reckless disregard, fraud, intent to evade,
misrepresentation, or willful nondisclosure, the director shall
assign the maximum contribution rate plus 2 percent for each
applicable rating period, the current rating period, and the
subsequent rating period. Contributions paid in excess of the maximum
rate under this section shall not be credited to the employing unit'
s reserve account.
   (d) (1) On and after January 1, 2007, whenever a motion picture
payroll services company creates or acquires a motion picture payroll
services company, or acquires substantially all of the assets of a
motion picture payroll services company, the created or acquired
motion picture payroll services company shall:
   (A) Constitute a separate employing unit, notwithstanding Sections
135.1 and 135.2.
   (B) Have its reserve account and rate of contributions determined
in accordance with subdivision (e).
   (C) Notify the department of the entity being created or acquired
and the nature of its affiliation to that entity.
   (2) The department may promulgate regulations requiring a motion
picture payroll services company, prior to the creation or
acquisition of a motion picture payroll services company that will be
an affiliated entity, to seek the approval of the department to
apply this section to the created or acquired entity.
   (e) When a motion picture payroll services company transfers all
or part of its business or payroll to another motion picture payroll
services company the reserve account attributable to the transferor
shall be transferred to the transferee motion picture payroll
services company, and the transferee's rate of contribution shall be
determined in accordance with Section 1052. The transferee shall
notify the department within 15 days of the transfer of the business
or payroll.
   (f) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Affiliated entity" means any one or more motion picture
payroll services company or companies that are united by factors of
common ownership, management, or control as prescribed by Section
1061.
   (2) "Allied motion picture services company" means any person
engaged in an industry closely allied with, and whose work is
integral to, a motion picture production company in the development,
production, or postproduction of a motion picture, excluding the
distribution of the completed motion picture and any activity
occurring thereafter, and who hires from the same pool of craft and
guild or union workers, actors, or extras as a motion picture
production company.
   (3) "Motion picture" means a motion picture of any type,
including, but not limited to, a theatrical motion picture, a
television production, a television commercial, or a music video,
regardless of its theme or the technology used in its production or
distribution.
   (4) (A) "Motion picture payroll services company" means any
employing unit that directly or through its affiliated entities meets
all of the following criteria:
   (i) Contractually provides the services of motion picture
production workers to a motion picture production company or to an
allied motion picture services company.
   (ii) Is a signatory to a collective bargaining agreement for one
or more of its clients.
   (iii) Controls the payment of wages to the motion picture
production workers and pays those wages from its own account or
accounts.
   (iv) Is contractually obligated to pay wages to the motion picture
production workers without regard to payment or reimbursement by the
motion picture production company or allied motion picture services
company.
   (v) At least 80 percent of the wages paid by the motion picture
payroll services company each calendar year are paid to workers
associated between contracts with motion picture production companies
and motion picture payroll services companies.
   (B) If the director determines that any employing unit is
operating as a motion picture payroll services company but is failing
to comply with any of the provisions of subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (4), the employing unit is subject to determination of the
employer-employee relationship pursuant to this code. When the
director's ruling becomes final, the director may preclude the
employing unit from being classified as a motion picture payroll
services company pursuant to this section for up to three years from
the date of the determination.
   (5) "Motion picture production company" means any employing unit
engaged in the development, production, and postproduction of a
motion picture, excluding the distribution of the completed motion
picture and any activities occurring thereafter.
   (6) "Motion picture production worker" means an individual who
provides services to a motion picture production company or allied
motion picture services company and who, with regard to those
services, is reported under this part as an employee by the motion
picture payroll services company. An individual who has been reported
as an employee by the motion picture payroll services company,
without regard to the individual's status as an employee or
independent contractor, shall be the employee of the motion picture
payroll services company for the purposes of this code throughout the
contractual period with the motion picture payroll services company.

   (7) "Wages" shall have the same meaning given the term in Article
2 (commencing with Section 926) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 1,
and shall include residual payments.
   (g) If the director determines that an entity does not meet any
requirement of this section, the director shall give notice of its
determination to that entity pursuant to Section 1206. The notice
shall contain a statement of the facts and circumstances upon which
the determination was made. The entity so noticed shall have the
right to petition for review of the director's determination within
30 days of the notice, as provided in Section 1222.
   (h) The director shall prescribe the form and manner of the
statements and information required to be filed or reported by this
section.
  SEC. 2.  Nothing in this act shall be construed to change existing
law as it relates to employing units that do not elect to be
considered a motion picture payroll services company pursuant to
Section 679 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.