BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 516
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          Date of Hearing:  August 13, 2013

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                Bob Wieckowski, Chair
                   SB 516 (Steinberg) - As Amended:  August 5, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :  38-0
           
          SUBJECT  :  FOREIGN LABOR CONTRACTORS:  REGISTRATION

           KEY ISSUE  :  IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT AGAINST TRAFFICKING AND  
          LABOR EXPLOITATION OF NON-CITIZENS AUTHORIZED TO WORK IN THE  
          U.S. ("FOREIGN WORKERS"), SHOULD REGULATION OF FOREIGN LABOR  
          CONTRACTORS AND EMPLOYERS SEEKING TO RECRUIT FOREIGN WORKERS BE  
          SIGNIFICANTLY STRENGTHENED?

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.

                                      SYNOPSIS
          
          This important bill, sponsored by the Coalition to Abolish  
          Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), represents a multi-faceted  
          approach to try to better prevent human trafficking and  
          exploitation of foreign workers in California.  The author and  
          sponsor note that workers entering the U.S. lawfully on  
          temporary visas are vulnerable to abuse by foreign labor  
          contractors (FLCs) who may, for example, make false promises of  
          employment to workers to get them to come to this country, and  
          subsequently use intimidation, threats, or violence to trap them  
          in poor working conditions and even enslave them.  The bill is  
          supported by a number of civil rights and anti-trafficking  
          advocates, and is opposed by many employers, including the  
          California Chamber of Commerce and the Motion Picture  
          Association of America.  The coalition of opponents jointly  
          state that while they support the author's efforts to address  
          human trafficking, they believe the bill, in its present form,  
          goes too far and if enacted would create unnecessary and  
          burdensome state oversight over legitimate business operations  
          that are not the kind of foreign labor recruiters that deserve  
          to be regulated in order to prevent exploitation.

          After extensive discussions among the stakeholders, Committee  
          staff has developed a number of proposed amendments that seek to  
          address opponents' stated concerns while at the same time  
          seeking to preserve the bill's laudable objective of  








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          strengthening anti-enslavement tools to better prevent human  
          trafficking and exploitation of foreign workers in California.   
          The analysis therefore recommends a host of substantial  
          potential amendments that the Committee may wish to discuss with  
          the author to determine his openness to them.  Among other  
          things, these proposed amendments would: (1) substantially  
          narrow the bill's current definition of "foreign labor  
          contractor" and "foreign labor contracting activity"; (2)  
          completely prohibit criminal liability for employers that only  
          use foreign labor contracting services provided by registered  
          FLCs; (3) completely eliminate the bonding requirement for  
          employers; and (4) substantially limit the bill's current joint  
          and several liability approach to only those employers who fail  
          to use a registered FLC and who do not make a good faith effort  
          to ensure compliance by the FLC.  Due to time constraints,  
          should the bill pass this Committee, these amendments would be  
          taken in the Appropriations Committee.  This bill was approved  
          by the Senate without receiving a single "No" vote, and passed  
          the Assembly Labor Committee by a 5-0 vote.  Nevertheless the  
          author's staff informed the Committee that the author remains  
          committed to try to address where appropriate the reasonable  
          concerns expressed by employer organizations. 

           SUMMARY  :  Expands registration and disclosure requirements to  
          regulate foreign labor contractors and the employers who use  
          their services, and specifies remedies and civil liability for  
          violations of these requirements.  Specifically,  this bill  ,  
          among other things:    

          1)Defines "foreign labor contractor" to mean any person who  
            performs foreign labor contracting activity, including any  
            person who performs activity wholly outside the United States,  
            except that the term does not include any entity of federal,  
            state, or local government.

          2)Defines "foreign labor contracting activity" to mean  
            recruiting, soliciting, or related activities with respect to  
            a foreign worker who resides outside of the United States in  
            furtherance of employment in California, including when such  
            activity occurs wholly outside the United States.  Further  
            clarifies that "foreign labor contracting activity" does not  
            include the services of an employer, or employee of an  
            employer, if those services are provided directly to foreign  
            workers solely to find workers for the employer's own use, and  
            are provided without the participation of any foreign labor  








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            contractor.

          3)Clarifies that "foreign worker" means any person seeking  
            employment who is not a United States citizen  or permanent  
            resident  (i.e. green card holders) but who is authorized by  
            the federal government to work in the United States, including  
            a person who engages in temporary nonagricultural labor  
            pursuant to the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, as  
            specified.

          4)Requires, on and after July 1, 2015, any person acting as a  
            foreign labor contractor (FLC) to register with the Labor  
            Commissioner, but prohibits registration or renewal of  
            registration by the Commissioner until all of the following  
            conditions are satisfied:

             a)   The person has executed a written application containing  
               specified information.
             b)   The Labor Commissioner, after investigation, is  
               satisfied as to the character, competency, and  
               responsibility of the person.
             c)   The person has deposited a surety bond, ranging from  
               $50,000 to $150,000, depending on the person's annual gross  
               receipts from operations as a foreign labor contractor.
             d)   The person has paid a registration fee of $500 plus a  
               filing fee of $10.

          5)Requires the Labor Commissioner, on and after August 1, 2015,  
            to post on its website the names and contact information of  
            all registered foreign labor contractors.

          6)Provides that the Labor Commissioner may not register a person  
            as a foreign labor contractor if the person was found to have  
            violated the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of  
            2000 and other specified provisions of state and federal law.

          7)Prohibits a person from knowingly entering into a contract for  
            the services of a foreign labor contractor that is not  
            registered.

          8)Requires, on and after July 1, 2015, a person using the  
            employment services of a foreign labor contractor to disclose  
            specified information to the Labor Commissioner, including the  
            name, address, and contact information of the person  
            designated by the employer to work with a foreign labor  








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            contractor.

          9)Requires a foreign labor contractor to disclose in writing  
            specified information to each foreign worker who is recruited  
            for employment that, among other things, identifies the  
            employer and recruiter, the type of visa under which the  
            worker is to be employed, and terms of the work contract.

          10)Prohibits a foreign labor contractor or a person using the  
            services of a foreign labor contractor from assessing any fee  
            to a foreign worker for employment services, including, but  
            not limited to, visa fees, processing fees, transportation  
            fees, legal expenses, placement fees, and other costs.

          11)Provides that a person may not intimidate, threaten,  
            restrain, coerce, discharge, or in any manner discriminate  
            against a foreign worker or a member of his or her family in  
            retaliation for a foreign worker's exercise of any rights  
            under the law.

          12)Establishes a civil penalty of no less than one thousand  
            dollars ($1,000) and no more than twenty-five thousand dollars  
            ($25,000) per violation of these provisions, in addition to  
            any other civil remedies available to the Labor Commissioner  
            or an aggrieved person.

          13)Exempts employers from criminal liability if the employer  
            used services provided only by a registered foreign labor  
            contractor.

          14)Permits the Labor Commissioner or an aggrieved person to sue  
            for injunctive relief, for damages, or to enforce the  
            liability of surety bonds, as specified.

          15)Provides that a person using the services of a FLC is jointly  
            and severally liable for violations by the FLC unless the  
            person used services provided only by a registered FLC and  
            made a good faith effort to ensure compliance by the FLC with  
            these provisions.  Further specifies that "good faith effort"  
            means all reasonable and feasible efforts by the person using  
            the services of the FLC to ensure the FLC has not committed  
            any violations of these provisions.

          16)Allows any person who, upon information and belief, claims a  
            violation of this chapter has been committed to bring a civil  








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            action for injunctive relief on behalf of the general public  
            and, upon prevailing, to recover his reasonable attorney's  
            fees and costs.

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Defines "foreign worker" to mean any person seeking employment  
            who is not a U.S. citizen but who is authorized by the federal  
            government to work in this country, including a person who  
            engages in temporary nonagricultural labor pursuant to Section  
            1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b) of Title 8 of the federal Immigration  
            and Nationality Act.  (Business & Professions Code Section  
            9998.1(d).  All further references are to this code unless  
            otherwise stated.)

          2)Defines "employment services" to include procuring employment,  
            marketing labor, or otherwise arranging the employment or  
            transportation, housing, and other living accommodations for  
            foreign workers either on behalf of those workers or on behalf  
            of another party.  (Section 9998.1(c).)

          3)Requires every contract for the provision of employment  
            services to foreign workers to be written in the primary  
            language of the foreign worker and include all material terms  
            including, but not limited to, any and all compensation or  
            consideration to be provided to the foreign worker in exchange  
            for that worker's labor or services, any wages, housing,  
            transportation, other living accommodations, and other  
            benefits which are to be provided.  (Section 9998.2.)

          4)Prohibits a foreign labor contractor from making, publishing,  
            or circulating to any person any false, fraudulent, or  
            misleading representation or information concerning the terms  
            or conditions of employment at any place of employment.   
            (Section 9998.3.)

          5)Provides that any person who violates these provisions or who  
            causes or induces another to violate them is guilty of a  
            misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand  
            dollars ($1,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not  
            more than six months, or both.  Further allows any person  
            aggrieved by a violation to bring an action for injunctive  
            relief damages, or both.  (Section 9998.8.)

           COMMENTS  :  In support of this measure, the author notes:  








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            Foreign labor contractors are increasingly relied upon to  
            facilitate the migration of labor from one country to  
            another.  California is the leading destination state in the  
            U.S. for temporary foreign workers with over 100,000  
            temporary workers annually. While many contractors behave  
            ethically and lawfully, others do not.  They misuse U.S.  
            visa programs to exploit workers, often charging exorbitant  
            fees for their services, forcing workers into debt bondage,  
            falsifying documents, and deceiving workers about the terms  
            and conditions of proposed employment.  

            Unscrupulous foreign labor contractors threaten workers with  
            blacklisting, discrimination, and other forms of  
            retaliation, including the imposition of additional fees and  
            violence against themselves, family members, or their home  
            communities, for reporting abuses or seeking to escape their  
            fraudulently induced servitude.  Legislation is needed to  
            prevent human trafficking and forced labor of foreign  
            workers in California resulting from the exploitative and  
            abusive practices of foreign labor contractors.
           
          Background on exploitation of foreign workers.   According to the  
          Office of Immigration Statistics within the Department of  
          Homeland Security, as of September 2011, there were  
          approximately 130,000 foreign temporary workers in California,  
          representing 15% of the national total and the highest subtotal  
          of any state (Office of Immigration Statistics, 2011 Yearbook of  
          Immigration Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (Sept.  
          2012), at p.4; see:  
           http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-s 
          tatistics/ois_ni_pe_2011.pdf  ).  These foreign temporary workers  
          are persons who have lawful non-immigration status and are  
          authorized to work in California under various classifications  
          of federal work visas.  

          Although the Legislature passed legislation in 1988 (AB 4554  
          (Roybal-Allard), Ch. 1450, Stats. 1988) to address reported  
          abuse by recruiters of foreign workers by establishing modest  
          disclosure and contract requirements, proponents of this bill  
          contend that abusive treatment and working conditions of foreign  
          labor workers continues, and that the visa process itself  
          provides opportunities for labor recruiters to exploit foreign  
          workers of all visa types.  Proponents cite a recent study of  
          labor practices with respect to foreign labor workers in which  








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          the authors found that "regardless of visa category, employment  
          sector, race, gender or national origin, internationally  
          recruited workers face disturbingly common patterns of  
          recruitment abuse, including fraud, discrimination, severe  
          economic coercion, retaliation, blacklisting and, in some cases,  
          forced labor, indentured servitude, debt bondage and human  
          trafficking."  (The American Dream Up For Sale:  A Blueprint for  
          Ending International Labor Recruitment Abuse, The International  
          Labor Recruitment Working Group (Feb. 5, 2013), at p. 5.)  The  
          authors of the report concluded that "disparate rules and  
          requirements for workers, employers and recruiters, as well as  
          lax enforcement of the regulations that do exist, allow and even  
          incentivize recruiters and employers to engage in abuses."   
          (Id.)  
           
          Illustrative examples that exploitation is not restricted by  
          race, nationality, or visa categories.   The sponsor of this  
          bill, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST),  
          asserts that foreign workers entering California on temporary  
          work visas are vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking  
          that can occur across all categories of race, nationality, and  
          visa categories.  

          For example, the H2B visa is a nonimmigrant visa primarily  
          issued to foreign nationals to enter into the U.S. for a  
          temporary position for which a shortage of U.S. workers exists,  
          working for a specific employer for a fixed period of time. CAST  
          states:

            In 2012, six Mexican workers were fraudulently recruited to  
            come to the United States to work in forestry.   The  
            recruiter came to their small town in rural Mexico to  
            convince the workers to work in Northern California.   The  
            workers were promised a good salary and free room and board  
            in the United States.   Relying on these promises the  
            workers entered the U.S. on H2B visas arranged by the  
            recruiters and traveled to California.   However, once in  
            the U.S., their conditions were vastly different than  
            promised.  They were charged extremely high deductions for  
            room and board and were often not paid for their labor.   
            They were forced to live and work in dangerous conditions,  
            sleeping in tents in the wilderness, living without  
            electricity, and denied clean drinking water.  The workers  
            were kept in terror of their traffickers, who were armed  
            and repeatedly threatened to shoot and kill the workers if  








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            they did not comply with the traffickers' demands.  
           
           Another example is the J-1 visa, which is a nonimmigrant visa  
          intended for individuals approved for work- and study-based  
          cultural exchange visitor programs, and covers a wide array of  
          occupations including au pairs, ski resort workers, and  
          amusement park workers. A high proportion of J-1 visas are  
          issued through the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program,  
          administered by the State Department.  According to Freedom  
          Network USA:

             Because of the lax oversight and the precarious financial  
             situation of many J-1 SWT students, numerous instances of  
             exploitation, and several reports of forced labor, have  
             arisen in the J-1 SWT context.  For example, a 2011  
             federal indictment charged New York area organized crime  
             syndicates . . . with offenses stemming from the  
             recruitment of women from Eastern Europe and Russia under  
             the J-1 SWT program to work as exotic dancers in the New  
             York City area.  The indictment charged the defendants  
             with offenses related to visa fraud and transporting,  
             harboring, and inducing the illegal entry of women from  
             Eastern Europe and Russia under the J-1 SWT program. 

             Despite many recent reforms and attempts by the State  
             Department to address concerns, including issuance of new  
             regulations in May 2012, the SWT program still requires  
             improvements to reduce the risk of trafficking,  
             exploitation, and other abuses.  The State Department  
             itself has acknowledged that, "there have been complaints  
             regarding job placement, work conditions, and participant  
             accommodations." The State Department also addressed the  
             potential misuse of the visa for trafficking in the 2012  
             Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report's country profile on  
             the United States, stating "NGOs noted vulnerabilities in  
             the J-1 Summer Work Travel program that can be indicators  
             for human trafficking, including reports of fraudulent  
             job offers, inappropriate jobs, job cancellations on  
             arrival, and housing and transportation problems"   
             (Freedom Network USA, Human Trafficking and J-1 Visas for  
             Temporary Workers, Sept. 2012.)
           
          Possible Amendments the Committee May Wish to Discuss With the  
          Author In An Effort to Address Employer Concerns  : Although the  
          bill had no registered opposition in the Senate and passed that  








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          house unanimously, the employer community is now expressing  
          substantial concerns with the measure.  These opponents  
          submitted a joint letter to the Committee explaining that while  
          they support the author's efforts to address real problems of  
          human trafficking, they believe the bill goes too far and  
          "creates unnecessary state oversight over legitimate business  
          operations that are necessary for California businesses to  
          assist foreign workers coming to this state."  

          After fruitful and lengthy discussions between the author,  
          sponsor, and coalition opponents, Committee staff have developed  
          a number of proposed amendments, outlined below, which seek to  
          try to address opponents' concerns while preserving the bill's  
          effort to create effective new tools to better prevent human  
          trafficking and exploitation of foreign workers by foreign labor  
          contractors.  

           Thus the Committee may wish to discuss with the author his  
          openness to amend the bill in the following ways  :

           A. Key definitions and scope of regulation.   Under the current  
          version of the bill, a foreign labor contractor (FLC) is defined  
          as "any person who for compensation agrees to assist in securing  
          or who actually secures for or provides employment services to  
          foreign workers."  The bill also specifies that "employment  
          services" includes, but is not limited to, procuring employment,  
          marketing labor, processing visa applications, or otherwise  
          arranging the employment or transportation, housing, and other  
          living accommodations for foreign workers, either on behalf of  
          those foreign workers or on behalf of another person.  Persons  
          meeting this definition of a foreign labor contractor are  
          required by the bill to register with the Labor Commissioner,  
          post a surety bond, and provide various disclosures to foreign  
          workers, among other things.  In addition, any person or  
          employer who uses the services of a FLC, as defined, to procure  
          foreign workers become regulated by this bill themselves by  
          virtue of that relationship, and must comply with a separate set  
          of obligations under the bill, including bonding and disclosure  
          requirements.  

          Opponents contend that the current definitions in the bill are  
          too broad in scope and would effectively make any employer who  
          hires a foreign worker subject to the requirements of the bill.   
          Furthermore, because employers hiring foreign workers sometimes  
          use the services of travel agencies to arrange for travel, or  








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          immigration lawyers to process visa paperwork, the bill arguably  
          would deem such travel agencies and immigration law firms as  
          FLCs and treat them no differently than the labor recruiter-thus  
          requiring them to independently register with the Labor  
          Commissioner and post a bond, among other things.

          It should be noted that the bill was recently amended in  
          Assembly Labor Committee to clarify that employers who recruit  
          foreign workers for their own use without the participation of  
          any FLC appropriately fall outside the scope of the bill and are  
                                                                                 not required to register or comply with FLC requirements.  In  
          addition, the bill was also amended to exempt talent agents  
          licensed by the Labor Commissioner from being regulated as FLCs.  
           Proponents note that licensed talent agents are already  
          strictly regulated by the Labor Commissioner pursuant to Chapter  
          4 of Part 6 of Division 2 of the Labor Code.  

           Thus the Committee may wish to discuss with the author his  
          openness to adopt amendments  that would focus the definition of  
          "foreign labor contractor" and "foreign labor contracting  
          activity" so that these terms apply more narrowly to capture  
          those who recruit and solicit foreign workers residing outside  
          of the country in furtherance of their employment in this state.  
           These amendments would help address opponents' concerns that  
          businesses, such as an independent travel agency simply booking  
          travel for an employer's foreign workers, are not  
          inappropriately swept into the definition of FLC that would then  
          subject them to the strict disclosure, bonding, and disclosure  
          requirements under the bill.

           B. Civil and criminal liability.   The bill currently imposes  
          misdemeanor criminal liability upon any person who violates  
          these provisions or causes or induces another to commit a  
          violation, and subjects a violator to a civil penalty between  
          $1,000 and $25,000 per violation.  In addition, the Labor  
          Commissioner or a person aggrieved by a violation may bring a  
          civil action for injunctive relief, for damages and attorney's  
          fees, as specified, and to enforce liability on the surety bonds  
          required by the bill.  This bill would also authorize the Labor  
          Commissioner to take assignments of actions on the FLC's bonds  
          and prosecute actions on behalf of foreign workers who are  
          harmed by violations of this law and who, in the judgment of the  
          commissioner, are financially unable to hire an attorney.  This  
          provision is also modeled after the farm worker protections in  
          Labor Code section 1693, related to farm labor contractors.








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          The bill also contains a limited private right of action that  
          allows a person, who upon information and belief claims a  
          violation has been committed, to bring a civil action for  
          injunctive relief on behalf of the general public.  Upon  
          prevailing, the person bringing such an action shall recover  
          reasonable attorney's fees and costs.  This provision is  
          substantially similar to a private attorney general right of  
          action provided to protect farm workers from specified unlawful  
          employment abuses related to charges for transportation costs  
          committed by farm labor contractors.  (See Lab. Code Sec.  
          1697.1(d).)

          The author asserts that statutory civil penalties are necessary  
          to offset the large amounts of money that many foreign workers  
          lose as a result of the predatory tactics utilized by  
          unscrupulous foreign labor contractors, and to serve as a  
          deterrent to those defrauding these workers.  Further, existing  
          law authorizes farm workers to file an action against an  
          unlawful employer for injunctive relief, damages, and attorney's  
          fees.  (See Lab. Code Secs. 1697(b) and 1697.1(c).)  Notably,  
          this bill would provide the same rights of action and remedies  
          as the Legislature has already provided to farm workers. 

          In order to address concerns about the possibility of criminal  
          liability for any violation of the bill, including  
          document-related registration or disclosure violations, t  he  
          Committee may wish to discuss with the author his openness to  
          adopt amendments that would prohibit criminal liability for an  
          employer so long as that employer only uses foreign labor  
          contracting services provided by a registered FLC.
           
          C. Joint and several liability; employer bonding requirement.    
          The bill currently provides that FLCs and those persons using  
          their services to obtain foreign workers or employees are  
          jointly and severally liable for violations of this act.  Under  
          joint and several liability, each party is financially liable  
          for all of damages arising from violations committed by the  
          other party, even where the violation was essentially committed  
          by one party alone.  This provision is similar in concept to  
          Labor Code section 2753, which imposes joint and several  
          liability on a person who, for money or other valuable  
          consideration, knowingly advises an employer to treat an  
          individual as an independent contractor to avoid employee  
          status.








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          In addition, the bill requires both FLCs and those who use or  
          anticipate using their services to obtain foreign workers to  
          deposit a surety bond with the Labor Commissioner.  According to  
          proponents, joint and several liability is a means of  
          incentivizing employers to take a more active role in overseeing  
          the foreign labor contractors they use to procure workers-all of  
          which is intended to help prevent trafficking and abuse.  By  
          making both the FLC and the employer jointly and severally  
          liable for violations of this act, the bill would provide  
          additional deterrence to unscrupulous foreign labor contractors  
          and employers who use their services.  The purpose of the  
          bonding requirement is to ensure a foreign worker may recover  
          monetary damages for a violation by either the FLC or the  
          employer, and from either bond.

          Opponents strongly oppose a policy of joint and several  
          liability, as well as any bonding requirement for employers.   
          They believe it is harsh and unfair to potentially hold  
          employers fully liable for violations committed by a FLC when,  
          they contend, the employer may have little control over the  
          actions of the FLC, particularly when the FLC may be operating  
          outside of the U.S.  Opponents contend that the bill will punish  
          innocent employers for violations committed by FLCs that they  
          cannot prevent, and will encourage lawsuits against employers  
          for violations where no "actual harm" has occurred.  Finally,  
          they also contend that the employer bonding requirement is  
          burdensome and unprecedented in the law in its application to  
          employers when the presumed target of the bill is to regulate  
          contractors who provide services to employers.

           The Committee may thus wish to discuss with the author his  
          openness to an amendment  to eliminate the bonding requirement  
          for employers.  At the same time, it may make more sense to  
          increase correspondingly the amount of the bond that foreign  
          labor contractors must deposit, which would be fairly modest in  
          size given the potential liability at stake for multiple  
          violations involving multiple foreign workers.

           Thus the Committee wish to discuss with the author his openness  
          to an additional amendment  that would limit joint and several  
          liability to employers who fail to use an registered FLC, and  
          who do not make a good faith effort to ensure the FLCs they use  
          follow the law.  The Committee proposes that "good faith effort"  
          in this context should mean all reasonable and feasible efforts  








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          by the person using the services of the FLC to ensure the FLC  
          has not committed any violations, and includes several  
          non-exclusive factors which give guidance with respect to acting  
          in good faith to ensure compliance by FLCs.  As proposed to be  
          amended, this means that an employer who, in violation of this  
          bill, used an unregistered FLC would remain jointly and  
          severally liable for damages arising from violations.  However,  
          an employer who used a registered FLC and acted in good faith to  
          ensure compliance by the FLC would not be subject to joint and  
          several liability, if the Committee's proposed amendment were to  
          be accepted by the author.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :  In addition to the concerns noted  
          above, the opponents' coalition also opposes the bill on the  
          basis that federal immigration reform is imminent, and that this  
          bill may conflict or duplicate such legislation in a way that  
          disadvantages California employers.  They state:

              Immigration reform is currently being debated in  
              congress. Both the House of Representatives and the  
              Senate are taking up bills to address various aspects of  
              immigration, including foreign labor contractors in the  
              Senate. The conversation in California is premature  
              given the rapid pace with which reform is moving in  
              Congress. 

              SB 516 creates duplicative, overlapping and more onerous  
              requirements than the language in the U.S. Senate bill  
              (S. 744). California should wait until federal  
              immigration reform has been accomplished in order to  
              avoid conflicts with federal requirements. Should  
              Congress and California pass conflicting or duplicative  
              FLC registration and regulation, California employers  
              who hire foreign workers will be at a competitive  
              disadvantage to businesses in other states because they  
              will face higher litigation risks, and higher burdens.   
              Immigration reform is expected to ease the labor needs  
              of California employers in both high and low skilled  
              jobs. SB 516 could undermine the benefits of national  
              reform for California.  

          The Committee notes that whether any federal immigration  
          legislation is approved by Congress is far from certain, and  
          even if enacted, specific provisions of such legislation are  
          unknowable at this time.  On the other hand, this bill addresses  








                                                                  SB 516
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          serious and well-documented problems of human trafficking and  
          labor exploitation, and proposes a number of concrete solutions  
          that proponents believe are immediately necessary to protect  
          vulnerable persons victimized by these harmful and exploitative  
          practices.

           PREVIOUS LEGISLATION  :  AB 4554 (Roybal-Allard, Ch. 1450, Stats.  
          1988) was enacted in response to testimony of exploitation by  
          labor agents who were reportedly recruiting foreign workers by  
          making false representations and promises of employment.  AB  
          4554 established modest disclosure and contract requirements  
          intended to provide foreign labor workers with information  
          regarding their wages and other terms of employment.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking
             Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
             Coalition of Immokalee Workers
             International Justice Mission
             Safe Horizon
             Solidarity Center
             Verite
             Vital Voices Global Partnership  
           American Association of University Women - California
          California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco
          Food Chain Workers Alliance
          National Council of Jewish Women-California
          Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California
          Polaris Project
          Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
            Religious Sisters of Charity
          Thai Community Development Center

           Opposition 
           
          Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange
          American Council of Engineering Companies - California
          American Institute of Architects, California Council
          AMN Healthcare
          Bay Area Council








                                                                  SB 516
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          California Attractions and Parks Association
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California Healthcare Institute
          California Hospital Association
          California Hotel and Lodging Association 
          California Manufacturers and Technology Association 
          California Restaurant Association
          California Ski Industry Association
          California Travel Association
          Chemical Industry Council of California
          Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC)
          Communicating for America
          Family Winemakers of California
          Intrax Cultural Exchange
          Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce 
          Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
          National Federation of Independent Business
          Southwest California Legislative Council
          TechAmerica
          TechNet
          Valley Industry and Commerce Association

           Analysis Prepared by  :  Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334