BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 168
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Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 168 (Monning) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill specifies a farm labor contractor (FLC) successor to
any predecessor FLC that owed wages or penalties to a former
employee of the predecessor is liable for those wages and
penalties, if the successor FLC meets one or more of the
following criteria:
1)Uses substantially the same facilities or workforce to offer
substantially the same services as the predecessor FLC.
Further affords an affirmative defense of liability to an FLC
that has operated with a valid license for at least the
previous three years, provided the FLC meets specified
conditions.
2)Shares in the ownership, management, control of the workforce,
or interrelations of business operations with the predecessor
FLC.
3)Employs in a managerial capacity any person who directly or
indirectly controlled the wages, hours, or working conditions
of the employees owed wages or penalties by the predecessor
FLC.
4)Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner, officer,
licensee, or director of the predecessor FLC, or of any person
who had a financial interest in the predecessor FLC. Defines
immediate family member as a spouse, parent, sibling, child,
uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or grandparent.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Industrial
Relations to implement this measure.
SB 168
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to a July 2010 Insure the Uninsured report
brief, California employed approximately 80,000 farmworkers
(44% of the nation's farmworkers). The report further states
an estimated 37% of this workforce is employed by FLCs.
Current law governing the car wash and garment industries
establishes a successor liability provision, which states a
successor employer in these two industries is liable for the
predecessor's former employees owed wages and penalties, if
the successor employer meets specified conditions. This bill
establishes the same provisions for FLCs.
According to the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
(CRLAF), sponsor of this bill, "SB 168 is a response to
continued wage theft in the agricultural underground economy.
It creates a farm labor contractor successor liability statute
that is similar to existing successor liability provisions
that protect garment workers and carwasheros, and it is
designed to ensure that wages and penalties stolen from farm
workers can be recovered from fraudulently created phony
successor businesses."
2)Existing law defines an FLC as any person who, for a fee,
employs workers to render personal services in connection with
the production of any farm products to, for, or under the
direction of a third person. Statute also delineates an FLC
as an entity that recruits, solicits, supplies, or hires
workers on behalf of an employer engaged in the growing or
producing of farm products, and for a fee, provides one or
more of the following services: furnishes lodging or
transportation for workers; supervises, times, checks, counts,
weighs, or otherwise directs or measures their work; or
disburses wage payments to these persons.
Generally, under federal and state law, the FLC is considered
to be the employer of farm laborers, and is responsible for
the prompt payment of wages and compliance with applicable
local, state, and federal laws or regulations. Statute
prohibits a person from acting as an FLC until he or she is
issued a license from the state's Labor Commissioner.
SB 168
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081