BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 558
Author: Lieu (D)
Amended: 5/1/13
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 5/8/13
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Yee
SUBJECT : Unemployment insurance: Employment Development
Department
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill allows the Employment Development
Department (EDD) to permit employees or his/her representative,
to request their wage information in a form other than in
writing, without charge, and makes additional conforming
changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Vests the EDD with the responsibility of ensuring employers
remit appropriate Unemployment Insurance contributions and to
collect the employee wage deductions to the Disability Fund.
EDD uses these funds to finance the Unemployment Insurance and
Disability Insurance Programs.
2.Authorizes EDD to collect personal income taxes required to be
withheld by employers.
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3.Requires that EDD collects appropriate data in order to carry
out the responsibilities listed above. This information
includes the employer's name and address, the number and
contact information of employees employed by an employer, the
wages paid to those employees, and any independent contractors
that have performed services for an employer.
4.Requires that, unless specifically provided, the information
obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance
Program and Disability Insurance Program is confidential and
must be used for the exclusive use and information of the
director of EDD in discharge of his or her duties. Any person
violating the confidentiality of this information is guilty of
a misdemeanor.
5.Provides that any employee or his or her representative may
receive his or her wage information upon written request by
the employee. The information shall be provided without
charge.
This bill allows EDD to permit employees or his/her
representative, to request their wage information in a form
other than in writing, without charge, and makes additional
conforming changes.
Comments
According to the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee
analysis, due to the responsibilities of EDD in receiving the
state payroll tax remittances, EDD has a complete record of
every employee's wage information. Current law allows for an
employee or his or her representative to request the employee's
wage information from the Employment Development Department.
However, according to the Employment Development Department, a
little less than 6,400 employees requested their wage data in
2012. In the past three years, the average is a bit under 6,000
employee requests per year.
The author feels that this low level of requests is a sign that
the program is underutilized and needs to be modernized. This
bill seeks to do this by striking the requirement that the
employee's request is written, allowing EDD to explore the
possibility of the request being electronic while continuing to
accept written requests and also protect the confidentiality of
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the employee's wage information.
Prior Legislation
SB 1284 (Lieu, 2012), would have allowed the Director of
Employment Development to electronically transmit wage
information of an employee to a creditor, upon the execution of
a release by an employee. This bill died in Senate Labor and
Industrial Relations Committee.
SB 820 (Sher and Bowen, Chapter 428, Statutes of 1999), which
created the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
PQ:nld 5/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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