BILL NUMBER: AB 1978 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gonzalez
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to amend Section 2802 90.5 of
the Labor Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1978, as amended, Gonzalez. Employee indemnification.
Employment: Department of Industrial Relations: wage
claims and retaliation complaints.
Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial
Relations the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is
vested with the general duty of enforcing labor laws, including those
relating to wage claims and employer retaliation. Existing law
requires the Labor Commissioner, defined as the Chief of the Division
of Labor Standards Enforcement, to establish and maintain a field
enforcement unit in order to ensure that minimum labor standards are
met. Existing law requires the commissioner to report annually to the
Legislature, not later than March 1, concerning the effectiveness of
the field enforcement unit, as specified.
This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to include in the
commissioner's report to the Legislature, as described above,
specified information on the status of wage claims and retaliation
complaints, including the average amount of time it takes for a wage
claim to receive a preliminary hearing and the current backlog of
claims and complaints.
Existing law requires an employer to indemnify his or her
employees for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in
direct consequence of the discharge of the employee's duties or as a
result of obeying the employer's directions. Existing law provides an
aggrieved employee with a private right of action to recover these
expenditures and authorizes the Labor Commissioner to enforce these
provisions by issuing citations and penalties to employers for
violations of this requirement, as specified. Existing law provides
for interest on awards by the court or the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement for reimbursement.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those interest
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 90.5 of the Labor
Code is amended to read:
90.5. (a) It is the policy of this state to vigorously enforce
minimum labor standards in order to ensure employees are not required
or permitted to work under substandard unlawful conditions or for
employers that have not secured the payment of compensation, and to
protect employers who comply with the law from those who attempt to
gain a competitive advantage at the expense of their workers by
failing to comply with minimum labor standards.
(b) In order to ensure that minimum labor standards are adequately
enforced, the Labor Commissioner shall establish and maintain a
field enforcement unit, which shall be administratively and
physically separate from offices of the division that accept and
determine individual employee complaints. The unit shall have offices
in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, and
any other locations that the Labor Commissioner deems appropriate.
The unit shall have primary responsibility for administering and
enforcing those statutes and regulations most effectively enforced
through field investigations, including Sections 226, 1021, 1021.5,
1193.5, 1193.6, 1194.5, 1197, 1198, 1771, 1776, 1777.5, 2651, 2673,
2675, and 3700, in accordance with the plan adopted by the Labor
Commissioner pursuant to subdivision (c). Nothing in this section
shall be construed to limit the authority of this unit in enforcing
any statute or regulation in the course of its investigations.
(c) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt an enforcement plan for the
field enforcement unit. The plan shall identify priorities for
investigations to be undertaken by the unit that ensure the available
resources will be concentrated in industries, occupations, and areas
in which employees are relatively low paid and unskilled, and those
in which there has been a history of violations of the statutes cited
in subdivision (b), and those with high rates of noncompliance with
Section 3700.
(d) The Labor Commissioner shall annually report to the
Legislature, not later than March 1, concerning the
effectiveness following:
(1) The effectiveness of the
field enforcement unit. The This part of the
report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1)
(A) The enforcement plan adopted by the Labor
Commissioner pursuant to subdivision (c), and the rationale for the
priorities identified in the plan.
(2)
(B) The number of establishments investigated by the
unit, and the number of types of violations found.
(3)
(C ) The amount of wages found to be
unlawfully withheld from workers, and the amount of unpaid wages
recovered for workers.
(4)
(D ) The amount of penalties and unpaid
wages transferred to the General Fund as a result of the efforts of
the unit.
(2) The status of wage claims and retaliation complaints. This
part of the report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(A) The average amount of time it takes for a wage claim to
receive a preliminary hearing.
(B) The number of determinations issued, the number of
investigative hearings held, the number of complaints dismissed, and
the number of complaints found valid, grouped by the year in which
the complaints were filed.
(C) An update on the division's current backlog of wage claims and
retaliation complaints.
(e) The report required by subdivision (d) shall be provided in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 2802 of the Labor Code is
amended to read:
2802. (a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all
necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct
consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her
obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful,
unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed
them to be unlawful.
(b) All awards made by a court or by the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement for reimbursement of necessary expenditures
under this section shall carry interest at the same rate as judgments
in civil actions. Interest shall accrue from the date on which the
employee incurred the necessary expenditures or losses.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term "necessary expenditures
or losses" shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not
limited to, attorney's fees incurred by the employee enforcing the
rights granted by this section.
(d) In addition to recovery of penalties under this section in a
court action or proceedings pursuant to Section 98, the commissioner
may issue a citation against an employer or other person acting on
behalf of the employer who violates reimbursement obligations for an
amount determined to be due to an employee under this section. The
procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for
citations or civil penalties issued by the commissioner shall be the
same as those set forth in Section 1197.1. Amounts recovered pursuant
to this section shall be paid to the affected employee.