California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1336


Introduced by Assembly Member Frazier

February 22, 2013


An act to amend Sections 1771.2 and 1776 of the Labor Code, relating to public works.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1336, as introduced, Frazier. Prevailing wages: payroll records.

Existing law requires contractors engaged in public works to pay employees the prevailing wage, as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations, and to comply with requirements relating to recordkeeping and employee work schedules. A joint labor-management committee, established pursuant to a specified provision of federal law, is authorized to bring an action against any employer who fails to pay prevailing wages as required by state law. The action is required to be commenced not later than 180 days after the filing of a valid notice of completion in the office of the county recorder in each county in which the public work, or some part thereof, was performed, or not later than 180 days after acceptance of the public work, whichever occurs last.

This bill would delete the requirement that the action be commenced not later than 180 days after the filing of a valid notice of completion, as prescribed, or not later than 180 days after acceptance of the public work, whichever occurs last, and would instead require that the action be commenced not later than 3 years after the wages were due. The bill would authorize a joint labor-management committee, through its employees or designated representatives, to visit any public works project site to monitor compliance with applicable statutes by any contractor or subcontractor performing work on the site, as long as employees or representatives of the committee comply with reasonable safety rules and do not disrupt performance of the work. The bill would also require, among other things, the court, in an action on prevailing wages, to award restitution to an employee for unpaid wages, plus interest, from the date the wages became payable, and would authorize the imposition of civil penalties, injunctive relief, or any other appropriate equitable relief.

Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor to keep accurate payroll records showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time, and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by him or her in connection with the public work. Any copy of records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a joint labor-management committee is required to be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s name and social security number.

This bill would instead require that any copy of payroll records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a joint labor-management committee, established pursuant to federal law, is required to be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s social security number. The bill would also require that any copy of records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust fund that requests the records for the purposes of allocating contributions to participants be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s full social security number, but provide the last 4 digits of the social security number.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 1771.2 of the Labor Code is amended to
2read:

3

1771.2.  

begin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insertA joint labor-management committee established
4pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of
51978begin delete (Section 175a of Title 29 of the United States Code)end deletebegin insert end insertbegin insert(29
6U.S.C. Sec. 175a)end insert
may bring an action in any court of competent
7jurisdiction against an employer that fails to pay the prevailing
8wage to its employees, as required by this article. This action shall
9be commenced not later thanbegin delete 180 days after the filing of a valid
P3    1notice of completion in the office of the county recorder in each
2county in which the public work or some part thereof was
3performed, or not later than 180 days after acceptance of the public
4work, whichever last occursend delete
begin insert three years after the wages were dueend insert.

begin insert

5(b) A joint labor-management committee established pursuant
6to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29
7U.S.C. Sec. 175a), through its employees or designated
8representatives, may visit any public works project site to monitor
9compliance with this chapter by any contractor or subcontractor
10performing work on the site, provided that employees or
11 representatives of the committee comply with reasonable safety
12rules and do not disrupt the performance of work.

end insert
begin insert

13(c) (1) In an action brought pursuant to this section, the court
14shall award restitution to an employee for unpaid wages, plus
15interest, under Section 3289 of the Civil Code from the date that
16the wages became due and payable, and liquidated damages equal
17to the amount of unpaid wages owed, and may impose civil
18penalties in accordance with Section 1775, injunctive relief, or
19any other appropriate form of equitable relief. The court shall
20award a prevailing joint labor management committee its
21reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in maintaining the
22action, including expert witness fees.

end insert
begin insert

23(2) An action pursuant to this section shall not be based on the
24employer’s misclassification of the craft of a worker in its certified
25payroll records.

end insert
begin insert

26(3) This subdivision does not limit any other available remedies
27for a violation of this chapter.

end insert
28

SEC. 2.  

Section 1776 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

29

1776.  

(a) Each contractor and subcontractor shall keep accurate
30payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number,
31work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each
32day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each
33journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by
34him or her in connection with the public work. Each payroll record
35shall contain or be verified by a written declaration that it is made
36under penalty of perjury, stating both of the following:

37(1) The information contained in the payroll record is true and
38correct.

P4    1(2) The employer has complied with the requirements of
2Sections 1771, 1811, and 1815 for any work performed by his or
3her employees on the public works project.

4(b) The payroll records enumerated under subdivision (a) shall
5be certified and shall be available for inspection at all reasonable
6hours at the principal office of the contractor on the following
7basis:

8(1) A certified copy of an employee’s payroll record shall be
9made available for inspection or furnished to the employee or his
10or her authorized representative on request.

11(2) A certified copy of all payroll records enumerated in
12subdivision (a) shall be made available for inspection or furnished
13upon request to a representative of the body awarding the contract
14and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement of the
15Department of Industrial Relations.

16(3) A certified copy of all payroll records enumerated in
17subdivision (a) shall be made available upon request by the public
18for inspection or for copies thereof. However, a request by the
19public shall be made through either the body awarding the contract
20or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. If the requested
21payroll records have not been provided pursuant to paragraph (2),
22the requesting party shall, prior to being provided the records,
23reimburse the costs of preparation by the contractor, subcontractors,
24and the entity through which the request was made. The public
25may not be given access to the records at the principal office of
26the contractor.

27(c) The certified payroll records shall be on forms provided by
28the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement or shall contain the
29same information as the forms provided by the division. The
30payroll records may consist of printouts of payroll data that are
31maintained as computer records, if the printouts contain the same
32information as the forms provided by the division and the printouts
33are verified in the manner specified in subdivision (a).

34(d) A contractor or subcontractor shall file a certified copy of
35the records enumerated in subdivision (a) with the entity that
36requested the records within 10 days after receipt of a written
37request.

38(e) Except as provided in subdivision (f), any copy of records
39made available for inspection as copies and furnished upon request
40to the public or any public agency by the awarding body or the
P5    1Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall be marked or
2obliterated to prevent disclosure of an individual’s name, address,
3and social security number. The name and address of the contractor
4awarded the contract or the subcontractor performing the contract
5shall not be marked or obliterated.begin insert Any copy of records made
6available for inspection by, or furnished to, a multiemployer
7Taft-Hartley trust fund (29 U.S.C. Sec. 186(c)(5)) that requests
8the records for the purposes of allocating contributions to
9participants shall be marked or obliterated only to prevent
10disclosure of an individual’s full social security number, but shall
11provide the last four digits of the social security number.end insert
Any copy
12of records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a joint
13labor-management committee established pursuant to the federal
14Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a)
15shall be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an
16individual’sbegin delete name andend delete social security number. A joint labor
17management committee may maintain an action in a court of
18competent jurisdiction against an employer who fails to comply
19with Section 1774. The court may award restitution to an employee
20for unpaid wages and may award the joint labor management
21committee reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in
22maintaining the action. An action under this subdivision may not
23be based on the employer’s misclassification of the craft of a
24worker on its certified payroll records. Nothing in this subdivision
25limits any other available remedies for a violation of this chapter.

26(f) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, agencies
27that are included in the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the
28Underground Economy established pursuant to Section 329 of the
29Unemployment Insurance Code and other law enforcement
30agencies investigating violations of law shall, upon request, be
31provided nonredacted copies of certified payroll records. Any
32copies of records or certified payroll made available for inspection
33and furnished upon request to the public by an agency included in
34the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy
35or to a law enforcement agency investigating a violation of law
36shall be marked or redacted to prevent disclosure of an individual’s
37name, address, and social security number.

38(2) An employer shall not be liable for damages in a civil action
39for any reasonable act or omission taken in good faith in
40compliance with this subdivision.

P6    1(g) The contractor shall inform the body awarding the contract
2of the location of the records enumerated under subdivision (a),
3including the street address, city, and county, and shall, within five
4working days, provide a notice of a change of location and address.

5(h) The contractor or subcontractor has 10 days in which to
6comply subsequent to receipt of a written notice requesting the
7records enumerated in subdivision (a). In the event that the
8contractor or subcontractor fails to comply within the 10-day
9period, he or she shall, as a penalty to the state or political
10subdivision on whose behalf the contract is made or awarded,
11forfeit one hundred dollars ($100) for each calendar day, or portion
12thereof, for each worker, until strict compliance is effectuated.
13Upon the request of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement,
14these penalties shall be withheld from progress payments then due.
15A contractor is not subject to a penalty assessment pursuant to this
16section due to the failure of a subcontractor to comply with this
17section.

18(i) The body awarding the contract shall cause to be inserted in
19the contract stipulations to effectuate this section.

20(j) The director shall adopt rules consistent with the California
21Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250)
22of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) and the
23Information Practices Act of 1977 (Title 1.8 (commencing with
24Section 1798) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code) governing
25the release of these records, including the establishment of
26reasonable fees to be charged for reproducing copies of records
27required by this section.



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