BILL NUMBER: AB 243	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alejo

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2011

   An act to amend Section 226 of the Labor Code, relating to
employment.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 243, as amended, Alejo. Labor contractors.
   Existing law requires an employer to furnish each employee with an
accurate itemized statement showing, among other things, the name
and address of the legal entity that is the employer. Existing law
provides that a knowing and intentional violation of this provision
is a misdemeanor.
   This bill would require an employer who is a farm labor
contractor, as defined, to disclose in the itemized statement the
name and address of the legal entity that secured the employer's
services.
   Because a willful violation of the bill's provisions would be a
crime, this bill 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 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, if the employer
is a farm labor contractor, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
1682, the name and address of the legal entity that secured the
services of 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
payment 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 records pertaining to their employment, upon
reasonable request to the employer. The employer may take reasonable
steps to  assure   ensure  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) The listing by an employer of the name and address of the
legal entity that secured the services of the employer in the
itemized statement required by subdivision (a) shall not create any
liability on the part of that legal entity.  
   (g) 
    (h)  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) 
    (i)  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 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.