BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 1087 (Monning) - Farm Labor Contractors
Amended: May 5, 2014 Policy Vote: L&IR 4-1
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 19, 2014 Consultant: Robert Ingenito
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1087 would enact a series of changes to current
law pertaining to farm labor contractors (FLCs), in the general
areas of (1) enforcement, (2) sexual harassment prevention, and
(3) discovery with respect to wage disputes.
Fiscal Impact:
The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) indicates
it would incur a one-time cost of $58,000 for rulemaking
(Special Fund).
The Department of Fair Employment Housing (DFEH)
indicates minimal costs from the bill.
Background: Current 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. Current law 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. Current law prevents a
person from acting as an FLC until he or she is issued a license
from the state's Labor Commissioner.
SB 1087 (Monning)
Page 1
Proposed Law:
I. Enforcement
SB 1087 would, among other things, do all of the following:
Double bond requirements to $50,000 for payrolls up to
$500,000 or a bond of $100,000 for payrolls up to
$2,000,000 or a bond of $150,000 for payrolls over
$2,000,000.
Require the FLC to provide documentation to the Labor
Commissioner of the size of the contractor's payroll, using
specified sources.
Increase the FLC licensure fee to $600, with the
additional $100 funding the Labor Commissioner's Farm Labor
Contractor Enforcement Unit and the Farm Labor Contractor
Verification Unit.
Increase the examination fee by $100 and add DFEH to the
organizations who must be consulted by the Labor
Commissioner when creating the exam.
Require that the FLC fully document net and gross hours
worked and wages to a grower and provides paystubs that
fully comply with California Labor Law to the contractor's
employees.
Require the grower to retain contracts with farm labor
contractors for three years.
Allow for the collection of expert witness fees in the
event of successfully pursuing action against an FLC.
Increase fees for any FLC who continues to provide farm
labor contracting services after his or her license has
been suspended or revoked to not less than $10,000, and
also extend this penalty to FLC who were denied a license.
I. Sexual Harassment
SB 1087 (Monning)
Page 2
SB 1087 would do the following:
Expand the conditions upon which a FLC's surety bond may
be payable to include damages due to sexual harassment
specifically, or harassment generally on the basis of race,
religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical
disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic
information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and
veteran status.
Require the addition of protection from sexual
harassment in the workplace as a topic for the FLC written
examination.
Increase annual continuing education for FLCs to 12
hours and requires it include prevention training on sexual
harassment.
Prohibit the Labor Commissioner from issuing a license
to an FLC who, within the three preceding years, committed
sexual harassment or employed a supervisor who the farm
labor contractor knew, or should have known, had been found
to have committed sexual harassment of an employee.
Allow the Labor Commissioner to revoke, suspend, or
refuse to renew the license of an FLC who, within the three
preceding years, committed sexual harassment or employed a
supervisor who the farm labor contractor knew, or should
have known, had been found to have committed sexual
harassment of an employee.
I. Farm Labor Contracts
SB 1087 would do all of the following:
Require an FLC to maintain copies of any contract or
agreement for labor of services with a grower or another
labor contractor for at least three years after the
completion date of the contract.
Require a FLC to make those contracts available to DIR,
and produce the contracts in response to a discovery
SB 1087 (Monning)
Page 3
request or subpoena in any civil action or claim for unpaid
wages. This includes oral agreements for labor.
Allow the FLC to only produce the portions of the
contracts which show the amount of the commission or
payment for the licensee for labor or services provided
under the agreement and how that payment was calculated.
Require that an FLC makes the payroll list of available
to employees of the DLSE and produce the payroll list in
response to a discovery request of subpoena in any civil
action or claim for unpaid wages.
Related Legislation: SB 168 (Monning), Chapter 715, Statutes of
2013, makes 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 specified criteria.
Staff Comments: The only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency relate to crimes and infractions. Such costs are not
reimbursable by the state under the California Constitution.