SB 168, as amended, 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 farm labor contractor successor to any predecessor farm labor contractor that owed wages or penalties to a former employee of the predecessor, whether the predecessor was a licensee or not, liable for those wages and penalties, if the successor farm labor contractor meets one or more specified criteria. By imposing a new requirement on farm labor contractor successors, 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 farm labor contractor successor to any predecessor
4farm labor contractor that owed wages or penalties to a former
5employee of the predecessor, whether the predecessor was a
6licensee under this chapter or not, is liable for those wages and
7penalties, if the successor farm labor contractor meets one or more
8of the following criteria:
9(a) Uses substantially the same facilities or workforce to offer
10substantially the same services as the predecessor farm labor
11contractor.begin insert A farm labor contractor that has operated with a valid
12license for at least the preceding three years shall have an
13affirmative defense to liability under this
subdivision for using
14substantially the same workforce, if all of the following apply:end insert
15(1) The individuals in the workforce were not referred or
16supplied for employment by the predecessor farm labor contractor
17to the licensed farm labor contractor asserting this defense.
18(2) The licensed farm labor contractor asserting the defense
19has not had any interest in, or connection with, the operation,
20ownership, management, or control of the business of the
21predecessor farm labor contractor within the preceding three
22years.
23
(3) The licensed farm labor contractor asserting the defense
24has not been determined to have violated any provision of the
25Labor Code within the preceding three years.
26(b) Shares in the ownership, management, control of the
27workforce, or interrelations of business operations with the
28predecessor farm labor contractor.
29(c) Employs in a managerial capacity any person who directly
30or indirectly controlled the wages, hours, or working conditions
31of the employees owed wages or penalties by the predecessor farm
32labor contractor.
P3 1(d) Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner,
2officer, licensee, or director of the predecessor farm labor
3contractor or of any person who had a financial
interest in the
4predecessor farm labor contractor. As used in this section,
5“immediate family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, child,
6uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or grandparent.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
8Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
9the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
10district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
11infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
12for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
13the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
14the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
15Constitution.
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