BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1675|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1675
Author: Bonilla (D)
Amended: 3/20/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUST. RELATIONS COMM. : 5-0, 6/27/12
AYES: Lieu, DeSaulnier, Leno, Padilla, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-4, 5/29/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Farm labor contractors: licenses: civil
penalty
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
DIGEST : This bill establishes civil penalties for farm
labor contractors (FLCs) who are found to have violated
license requirements.
ANALYSIS : Existing law defines a "farm labor contractor"
as any person who, for a fee, employs workers to render
personal services in connection with the production of any
farm products to, for, or under the direction of a third
person, or who recruits, solicits, supplies, or hires
workers on behalf of an employer engaged in the growing or
producing of farm products, and who, for a fee, provides in
connection therewith one or more of the following services:
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furnished board, lodging. or transportation for those
workers as specified. (Labor Code (LAB) Section 1682)
Existing law includes within the definition of FLC the
inclusion of a "day hauler." Day hauler is any person who
is employed by a FLC to transport, for a fee, by motor
vehicle, workers to render personal services in connection
with the production of any farm products, under the
direction of a third person. (LAB Section 1682.3)
Existing law requires FLCs to be licensed by the Labor
Commissioner (Commissioner) and to comply with specified
employment laws applicable to FLCs. To obtain a license
the person has to deposit with the Commissioner a security
bond in the amount based on the size of the person's annual
payroll for all employees. The person must also take a
written examination; and must correctly answer at least 85%
of the questions posed within the four hour time period
allotted. This examination will ensure that the person has
knowledge in current laws regarding wages, hours, and
working conditions, penalties, employee housing and
transportation, collective bargaining, field sanitation and
safe work practices relating to pesticide use, field
reentry regulations and symptoms and appropriate treatment
of pesticide poisoning. In addition, the person has to
enroll and participate in at least eight hours of relevant,
educational classes each year. The classes shall be chosen
by the Commissioner. (LAB Section 1684)
Existing law specifies that when a person is found to be in
violation of FLC requirements they can receive a
misdemeanor punishable by specified fines, or imprisonment
in the county jail for not more than six months, or both.
(LAB Section 1697)
This bill establishes civil penalties for failure to obtain
the required FLCs license. Specifically, this bill:
1. Makes a person who acts as a FLC without a license from
the Commissioner subject to a civil penalty as follows:
A. The initial citation for a person who violates
this section is subject to a citation of, $100 for
each farmworker employed by the unlicensed person,
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plus $100 for each calendar day that a violation
occurs, for a total penalty not to exceed $10,000.
B. The second citation shall be, $200 for each
farmworker employed by the unlicensed person, plus
$200 for each calendar day that a violation occurs,
for a total penalty not to exceed $20,000.
C. The third or subsequent citation, $500 for each
farmworker employed by the unlicensed person, plus
$500 for each calendar day that a violation occurs,
for a total penalty not to exceed $50,000.
2. Requires the Commissioner to issue a citation if, upon
inspection determines that a person has violated the
license requirements.
3. Requires civil penalties collected from this section to
be deposited into the Farmworker Remedial Account.
4. Specifies that the civil penalties provided in this
section are in addition to any other penalty provided by
current law.
5. Specifies that the required "license" under this section
includes a letter of authorization by the Commissioner
to legally operate as a FLC.
Comments
Need for this bill . According to the Senate Labor and
Industrial Relations Committee, currently, FLCs are
required to obtain a license from the Commissioner in order
to legally operate in the state. The person must take a
written examination and must correctly answer at 85% of the
questions posed within the four hour time period allotted.
This examination will ensure that the person has knowledge
in current laws regarding wages, hours, and working
conditions, penalties, employee housing and transportation,
collective bargaining, field sanitation and safe work
practices relating to pesticide use, field reentry
regulations and symptoms and appropriate treatment of
pesticide poisoning. In addition, the person has to enroll
and participate in at least eight hours of relevant;
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educational classes each year to ensure education
continues.
Unfortunately, heat-related deaths are a reminder that
agriculture is one of the few industries in this state and
country where a person can be worked to death. Those who
survive heat illness can still develop serious conditions,
including heart, liver, kidney, and muscle damage, nervous
system problems, and blood disorders. For these reasons it
is important that employers are adequately educated on all
areas of potential farm work related hazards.
Under existing law, a person who violates farm labor
contractor requirements can be found guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by fines, or imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than six months, or both. This
bill assists the Commissioner in its enforcement efforts by
also imposing civil penalties for farm labor contractors
operating without a license. This additional penalty will
serve as a deterrent for those contractors disobeying the
law.
Prior Legislation
AB 243 (Alejo), Chapter 761, Statutes of 2011, required an
employer who is a FLC to disclose on the itemized payroll
statement furnished to employees the name and address of
services. It also provided that the list by the FLC of the
mane and address of the legal entity that secured the
services of the employer on the itemized payroll statement
that shall not create any liability on the part of that
legal entity.
SB 1514 (Solis), Chapter 875, Statutes of 1998, imposed a
$500 civil penalty on garment manufacturers, with no
employed workers, who fail to register with the
Commissioner. The bill also eliminated the misdemeanor
associated with this violation for these manufacturers.
AB 1688 (Goldberg), Chapter 875, Statutes of 2003,
established a system to regulate the employment of workers
in the car washing and polishing industry, including a
civil fine structure for car wash establishments that fail
to register with the Commissioner. The bill also
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established the Car Wash Worker Restitution Fund and the
Car Wash Worker Fund, the latter of which is partly funded
by fines associated with violations of the labor law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/12)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (source)
Agricultural Council of California
American Pistachio Growers
California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers
California Bean Shippers Association
California Catholic Conference
California Chamber of Commerce
California Cherry Export Association
California Citrus Mutual
California Communities United Institute
California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit
Union
California Conference of Machinists
California Cotton Ginners Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Grape and Tree Fruit League
California Labor Federation
California Pear Growers Association
California Seed Association
California State Floral Association
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Engineers and Scientists of California
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
Nisei Farmers League
Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21
UNITE HERE
United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Western States
Council
Western Agricultural Processors Association
Western Growers
Wine Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill guarantees that bad actors are penalized for
breaking the law. The penalty will serve as a deterrent
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for disobeying the law or to re-offend. The author's
office argues that this bill will also assist the Division
of Labor Standards Enforcement in its labor law enforcement
efforts, and send a message to unlicensed farm labor
contractors that the consequences of operating without a
license now carry the likelihood of the imposition of stiff
civil penalties.
The author's office further states that this bill will also
require that the civil penalties collected from unlicensed
contractors be deposited in a pre-existing farm worker wage
protection fund which ensures that unlicensed contractors
help finance a system that has been making disbursements
for farm workers cheated out of wages by unlicensed farm
labor contractors (and which is currently funded by a
portion of each licensed farm labor contractor's annual
license fee).
According to the sponsor of this bill, the California Rural
Legal Assistance Foundation, licensing violations are
rarely, if ever, prosecuted, and leave the Commissioner,
without the legal weapons she has in other contexts, e.g.
garment, car washing and construction contracting, to deter
unlicensed contractor activities through assessment of
civil penalties. They argue that, for example, a car wash
employer who fails to register as a car wash establishment
is subject to a civil penalty of $100 per day, up to a
maximum of $10, 000, the employer conducts car washing and
polishing while unregistered. A garment manufacturer who
does not comply with their licensing requirements is
subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each affected
employee, for the initial violation, and $200 per employee
for second or subsequent violations. A construction
contractor who is found operating without a license is
subject to a civil penalty of $200 per employee for each
day of the contract. The civil penalties deter bad actors
from breaking the law. This bill will allow the
Commissioner to issue a civil penalty for the first, second
or third offence in graduated amounts is designed to deter
future misconduct.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-4, 5/29/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
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Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Jones, Knight, Logue
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Fletcher, Hall, Mansoor, Silva
PQ:k 8/8/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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