SB 168, as introduced, Monning. Farm labor contractors: successors: wages and penalties.
Existing law requires farm labor contractors to be licensed by the Labor Commissioner and to comply with specified employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors. Under existing law, a person who violates farm labor contractor requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by specified fines, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 6 months, or both.
This bill, in addition, would make a successor to any farm labor contractor that owed wages or penalties to a former employee of the predecessor farm labor contractor, whether the predecessor was a licensee or not, liable for those wages and penalties, if the successor meets one or more specified criteria. By imposing a new requirement on farm labor contractors, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1698.9 is added to the Labor Code, to
2read:
A successor to any farm labor contractor that owed
4wages or penalties to a former employee of the predecessor farm
5labor contractor, whether the predecessor was a licensee under this
6chapter or not, is liable for those wages and penalties, if the
7successor meets one or more of the following criteria:
8(a) Uses substantially the same facilities or workforce to offer
9substantially the same services as the predecessor farm labor
10contractor.
11(b) Shares in the ownership, management, control of the
12workforce, or interrelations of business operations with the
13predecessor farm labor contractor.
14(c) Employs in a managerial capacity any person who
directly
15or indirectly controlled the wages, hours, or working conditions
16of the employees owed wages or penalties by the predecessor farm
17labor contractor.
18(d) Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner,
19officer, licensee, or director of the predecessor farm labor
20contractor or of any person who had a financial interest in the
21predecessor farm labor contractor. As used in this section,
22“immediate family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, child,
23uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or grandparent.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
25Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
26the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
27district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
28infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
29for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
30the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
31the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
32Constitution.
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