BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2288
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2288 (Roger Hernández)
As Introduced February 21, 2014
Majority vote
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 7-0 JUDICIARY 10-0
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|Ayes:|Roger Hernández, Grove, |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |
| |Alejo, Chau, Gorell, | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, |
| |Holden, | |Garcia, Gorell, |
| |Ridley-Thomas | |Maienschein, Muratsuchi, |
| | | |Stone |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Enacts the Child Labor Protection Act of 2014 to enact
various provisions of law related to violations of existing law
related to the employment of minors. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the statute of limitations for claims arising
under the Labor Code shall be tolled until an individual
allegedly aggrieved by an unlawful practice attains the age of
majority, and provides that this provision is declaratory of
existing law.
2)Provides that, in addition to other remedies available, an
individual who is discharged, threatened with discharge,
demoted, suspended, retaliated against, subjected to an
adverse action, or in any other manner discriminated against
in the terms or conditions of his or her employment because
the individual filed a claim or civil action alleging a
violation of the Labor Code that arose while the individual
was a minor, whether the claim or civil action was filed
before or after the individual reached the age of majority,
shall be entitled to treble damages.
3)Provides that specified serious violations of existing law
that involve a minor 12 years of age or younger shall be
subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than $25,000
and not exceeding $50,000 for each violation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
AB 2288
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COMMENTS : This bill proposes to enact various provisions of law
related to violations of existing law related to the employment
of minors.
First, existing California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 352
and 338 already provide that the statute of limitations for
claims created by statute is tolled until an individual reaches
the age of majority. This bill would add similar language to
the labor code to specify that claims arising from child labor
violations are tolled until the individual reaches the age of
majority
Second, this bill would strengthen protections for these most
vulnerable workers by providing that an individual who is
discharged, threatened with discharge, demoted, suspended,
retaliated against, subjected to an adverse action, or in any
other manner discriminated against in the terms or conditions of
his or her employment because the individual filed a claim or
civil action alleging a violation of the labor code that arose
while the individual was a minor shall be entitled to treble
damages.
Finally, existing law provides for two types of civil penalties
for child labor violations. "Class A" violations are generally
for the most serious violations, including those that involve
underage employment or present an imminent danger to minor
employees or risk of death or serious harm, and contain a civil
penalty of $5,000 to $10,000. "Class B" violations are less
serious and provide a civil penalty of $500 to $1,000. This
bill would increase the civil penalty for "Class A" where the
minor is 12 years of age or younger to $25,000 to $50,000.
According to the author, some of the earliest labor laws in our
nation were designed to protect child laborers from exploitation
and abusive working conditions. However, child labor law
violations continue to be rampant across many industries. In
November 2011, Human Rights Watch published a report on child
labor in the United States which exposed the fact that children
as young as seven are working on farms, often 10 or more hours
per day at the peak of harvest. In addition, the National Human
Trafficking Resource Center reported that from 2007 to 2013, 20%
of calls to their hotline from California reported labor
trafficking, and nearly 30% of the victims were minors.
AB 2288
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Supporters of this bill, including the California Teamsters
Public Affairs Council, state that over 100 years ago,
policymakers in this country began to question the benefits of
child labor and started to recognize some of its evils. Laws
were passed and organizations devoted to root out this problem
were formed. Unfortunately, exploitation of children in the
workplace is still a popular way for unscrupulous employers to
reduce costs. Besides a loss of childhood, these children
experience wage theft, increased instances of work-related
injuries, and other abuses.
Supporters argue that some may think this is a problem that only
exists in other places; however, this is simply not true. It
happens right here, in every region and city in California.
This bill would provide some meaningful penalties and the
procedural ability for victims to get justice. Moreover, it may
provide just enough disincentive to keep some employers from
engaging in this practice.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
FN: 0003224