BILL NUMBER: SB 1333	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Blakeslee

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to add Section 108 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1333, as introduced, Blakeslee. Employment: labor standards:
consultation unit.
   Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the
enforcement of labor laws.
   This bill would establish in the division the Labor Standards
Consultation Unit for the purpose of providing consulting services to
employees and employers with 100 or fewer employees regarding
compliance with wage and hour laws. The bill would state the intent
of the Legislature that the unit ultimately be self-supporting and,
to further that end, would authorize the unit to charge a requester a
fee for consulting services provided, not to exceed the actual cost
to the unit, and to further fund its operation from grants obtained
from for-profit or not-for-profit nongovernmental and governmental
entities. The bill would prohibit the division from citing an
employer for a violation of any labor standard, order, or regulation
discovered as a result of an employer requesting or accepting
services from the unit pursuant to the bill if the employer remedies
the violation within an unspecified number of days and the employer
is not the subject of an ongoing investigation by the division.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 108 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   108.  (a) There is established in the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement, the Labor Standards Consultation Unit to provide, upon
request, a full range of consulting services to an employer or
employee. Those consulting services shall include providing
information, advice, or recommendations on complying with wage and
hour laws under the jurisdiction of the division.
   (b) (1) The unit may charge the requester a fee for consulting
services provided pursuant to this section, not to exceed the actual
cost to the unit.
   (2) The unit may fund its operation through grants obtained from
for-profit or not-for-profit nongovernmental entities and
governmental entities and from fees charged for consulting services,
with the intent that this unit ultimately be self-supporting through
grants, donations, and fees.
   (c) (1) The division shall not cite an employer for a violation of
any standard, order, or regulation adopted pursuant to this code if
the violation is discovered as a result of an employer requesting or
accepting consulting services offered pursuant to this section and,
within ____ days of that discovery, the employer takes corrective
action that remedies the violation. The corrective action must make
whole the employee or employees affected by the violation, if
required under other provisions of this code.
   (2) This subdivision does not apply to an employer who is the
subject of an ongoing formal investigation by the division for a wage
and hour violation.
   (d) "Employer" as used in this section includes only employers
with 100 or fewer employees.