BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                 Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
                              Senator Ben Hueso, Chair

          Date of Hearing: June 11, 2013               2013-2014 Regular  
          Session                              
          Consultant: Gideon L. Baum                   Fiscal:Yes
                                                       Urgency: No
          
                                  Bill No: AB 2743
                 Author: Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment
                      As Introduced/Amended: February 27, 2014
          

                                       SUBJECT
          
                                 Employment: wages.


                                      KEY ISSUE

          Should the Legislature permit unionized, regular short-term  
          employees who work at a theatrical or concert venue from being  
          able to pursue liquidated damages due to non-payment of wages  
          after discharge?

                                      ANALYSIS
          
           Existing law  provides for a statute of limitations for the  
          collection of wages of three years and a statute of limitations  
          for the collection of penalties of one year, unless the statute  
          imposes a different statute of limitations.  (Code of Civil  
          Procedure §§338 & 340)

           Existing law  provides that, if an employer discharges an  
          employee, the wages earned and unpaid at the time of discharge  
          are due and payable immediately.  (Labor Code §201)

           Existing law  exempts certain industries from the requirement of  
          immediately paying wages upon discharge.  These include:

             a)   Curing, canning or drying of perishable fruit, fish, or  
               vegetables (Labor Code §201);
             b)   Temporary services employers (Labor Code §201.3);
             c)   Production or broadcasting of motion pictures (Labor  
               Code §201.5);
             d)   Oil drilling (Labor Code §201.7); and









             e)   Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement  
               who work at a venue that hosts live theatrical or concert  
               events and are enrolled in and routinely dispatched to  
               employment through a hiring hall or other system of regular  
               short-term employment.
               (Labor Code §201.9)

           Existing law  requires that, if an employer willfully fails to  
          pay wages due to an employee who is discharge or who quits, the  
          wages of the employee shall continue as a penalty from the due  
          date thereof at the same rate until paid or until an action  
          therefor is commenced for up to 30 days.  Penalties for failure  
          to timely pay wages can be sought until the expiration of the  
          statute of limitations for the wages in which the penalties are  
          being sought.  (Labor Code §203)

           Existing law  currently excludes employees covered by a  
          collective bargaining agreement who work at a venue that hosts  
          live theatrical or concert events and are enrolled in and  
          routinely dispatched to employment through a hiring hall or  
          other system of regular short-term employment from being able to  
          receive liquidated damages due to an employer failing to pay  
          wages due to discharge.
           
          This bill  would allow the above-mentioned employees to pursue  
          liquidated damages due an employer failing to pay wages due to  
          discharge.


                                      COMMENTS

          
          1.  The Creation of Labor Code §201.9: 

            The provision excluding unionized, regular short-term  
            theatrical employees from the requirement to pay wages  
            immediately upon discharge was created by SB 1719 (Cedillo) of  
            2006 (Statutes of 2006, Chapter 685).  This bill, however, was  
            the product of a "gut and amend" on the Assembly Floor near  
            the end of session.  Prior to those amendments, SB 1719  
            (Perata) dealt with transportation funding.

          Hearing Date:  June 11, 2014                             AB 2743  
          Consultant: Gideon L. Baum                               Page 2

          Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations 
          








            As was noted above, unionized, regular short-term theatrical  
            employees are  the only group of private employees in the State  
            of California that are excluded from pursuing liquidated  
            damages due to non-payment of wages after discharge.   This  
            includes employees of the State of California, who are  
            frequently excluded from Labor Code provisions.  Noting that  
            neither the Assembly nor Senate analyses discuss this  
            exclusion, it is likely that it was inadvertent and caused by  
            a drafting error.

            AB 2743 would address this probable drafting error by allowing  
            unionized, regular short-term theatrical employees to pursue  
            liquidated damages due to non-payment of wages after  
            discharge.

          2. Proponent Arguments  :
            
            None on file.

          3.  Opponent Arguments  :

            None on file.

          4.  Prior Legislation  :

            SB 1719 (Cedillo), Statutes of 2006, Chapter 685, was  
            discussed above.

                                       SUPPORT
          
          None on file.
          

                                     OPPOSITION
          
          None on file.





          Hearing Date:  June 11, 2014                             AB 2743  
          Consultant: Gideon L. Baum                               Page 3

          Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations