California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2896

Introduced by Committee on Labor and Employment (Assembly Members Roger Hernández (Chair), Chu, Low, McCarty, Patterson, and Thurmond)

March 1, 2016

An act to amend Section 1684 of the Labor Code, relating to private employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2896, as introduced, Committee on Labor and Employment. Farm labor contractors: license: payment.

Existing law requires farm labor contractors to be licensed by the Labor Commissioner and to comply with specified employment laws applicable to farm labor contractors. Existing law requires farm labor contractors to pay license fees to the Labor Commissioner, and continuously appropriates a portion of the fee revenues from the Farmworker Remedial Account for enforcement and verification purposes.

This bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to accept a credit card charge as a method of payment for those license fees, as provided.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 1684 of the Labor Code is amended to
read:

1684.  

(a) The Labor Commissioner shall not issue to any
person a license to act as a farm labor contractor, nor shall the
Labor Commissioner renew that license, until all of the following
conditions are satisfied:

(1) The person has executed a written application in a form
prescribed by the Labor Commissioner, subscribed and sworn to
by the person, and containing all of the following:

(A) A statement by the person of all facts required by the Labor
Commissioner concerning the applicant’s character, competency,
responsibility, and the manner and method by which the person
proposes to conduct operations as a farm labor contractor if the
license is issued.

(B) The names and addresses of all persons, except bona fide
employees on stated salaries, financially interested, either as
partners, associates, or profit sharers, in the proposed operation as
a farm labor contractor, together with the amount of their respective
interests.

(C) A declaration consenting to the designation by a court of
the Labor Commissioner as an agent available to accept service
of summons in any action against the licensee if the licensee has
left the jurisdiction in which the action is commenced or otherwise
has become unavailable to accept service.

(D) The names and addresses of all persons who in the previous
calendar year performed any services described in subdivision (b)
of Section 1682 within the scope of his or her employment by the
licensee on whose behalf he or she was acting, unless the person
was employed as an independent contractor.

(2) The Labor Commissioner, after investigation, is satisfied as
to the character, competency, and responsibility of the person.

(3) (A) The person has deposited with the Labor Commissioner
a surety bond in an amount based on the size of the person’s annual
payroll for all employees, as follows:

(i) For payrolls up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000),
a twenty-five-thousand-dollar ($25,000) bond.

(ii) For payrolls of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to
two million dollars ($2,000,000), a fifty-thousand-dollar ($50,000)
bond.

(iii) For payrolls greater than two million dollars ($2,000,000),
a seventy-five-thousand-dollar ($75,000) bond.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the Labor Commissioner
shall require documentation of the size of the person’s annual
payroll which may include, but is not limited to, information
provided by the person to the Employment Development
Department, the Franchise Tax Board, the Division of Workers’
Compensation, the insurer providing the licensee’s workers’
compensation insurance, or the Internal Revenue Service.

(C) If the contractor has been the subject of a final judgment in
a year in an amount equal to or greater than the amount of the bond
required, he or she shall be required to deposit an additional bond
within 60 days.

(D) All bonds required under this chapter shall be payable to
the people of the State of California and shall be conditioned upon
the farm labor contractor’s compliance with all the terms and
provisions of this chapter and subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section
12940 of, and Sections 12950 and 12950.1 of, the Government
Code, and payment of all damages occasioned to any person by
failure to do so, or by any violation of this chapter or of subdivision
(j) or (k) of Section 12940 of, or of Section 12950 or 12950.1 of,
the Government Code, or any violation of Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352), or false statements or
misrepresentations made in the procurement of the license. The
bond shall also be payable for interest on wages and for any
damages arising from violation of orders of the Industrial Welfare
Commission, and for any other monetary relief awarded to an
agricultural worker as a result of a violation of this code or of
subdivision (j) or (k) of Section 12940 of, or Section 12950 or
12950.1 of, the Government Code, or any violation of Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352).

(4)  begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert The person has paid to the Labor Commissioner a license
fee of five hundred dollars ($500) plus a filing fee of ten dollars
($10). However, when a timely application for renewal is filed,
the ten-dollar ($10) filing fee is not required. The license fee shall
increase by one hundred dollars ($100), to six hundred dollars
($600), on January 1, 2015. The amount attributable to this increase
shall be expended by the Labor Commissioner to fund the Farm
Labor Contractor Enforcement Unit and the Farm Labor Contractor
License Verification Unit. Notwithstanding Section 1698, no
portion of that increase shall be credited to the General Fund. The
Labor Commissioner shall deposit one hundred fifty dollars ($150)
of each licensee’s annual license fee into the Farmworker Remedial
Account. Funds from this account shall be disbursed by the Labor
Commissioner only to persons determined by the Labor
Commissioner to have been damaged by any licensee if the damage
exceeds the amount of the licensee’s bond or the surety fails to
pay the full amount of the licensee’s bond, or to persons determined
by the Labor Commissioner to have been damaged by an
unlicensed farm labor contractor. In making these determinations,
the Labor Commissioner shall disburse funds from the Farmworker
Remedial Account to satisfy claims against farm labor contractors
or unlicensed farm labor contractors, which shall also include
interest on wages and any damages arising from the violation of
orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, for any other
monetary relief awarded to an agricultural worker as a result of a
violation of this code, and for all damages arising from any
violation of subdivision (j) or (k) of Section 12940 of, or of Section
12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code, or any violation of
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352).
The Labor Commissioner may disburse funds from the Farmworker
Remedial Account to farm labor contractors, for payment of
farmworkers, when a contractor is unable to pay farmworkers due
to the failure of a grower or packer to pay the contractor. Any
disbursed funds subsequently recovered by the Labor
Commissioner pursuant to Section 1693, or otherwise, shall be
returned to the Farmworker Remedial Account.

begin insert

(B) The Labor Commissioner may accept a credit card charge
as a method of payment for the license fees described in
subparagraph (A). Any contract executed by the Labor
Commissioner with credit card issuers or draft purchasers shall
be consistent with Section 6159 of the Government Code. The
terms “credit card” and “draft purchaser” shall have the same
meaning as those terms are defined in Section 6159 of the
Government Code.

end insert

(5) The person has taken a written examination that demonstrates
an essential degree of knowledge of the current laws and
administrative regulations concerning farm labor contractors as
the Labor Commissioner deems necessary for the safety and
protection of farmers, farmworkers, and the public, including the
identification and prevention of sexual harassment in the
workplace. To successfully complete the examinations, the person
must correctly answer at least 85 percent of the questions posed.
The examination period shall not exceed four hours. The
examination may only be taken a maximum of three times in a
calendar year. The examinations shall include a demonstration of
knowledge of the current laws and regulations regarding wages,
hours, and working conditions, penalties, employee housing and
transportation, collective bargaining, field sanitation, and safe
work practices related to pesticide use, including all of the
following subjects:

(A) Field reentry regulations.

(B) Worker pesticide safety training.

(C) Employer responsibility for safe working conditions.

(D) Symptoms and appropriate treatment of pesticide poisoning.

(6) The person has registered as a farm labor contractor pursuant
to the federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection
Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 1801 et seq.), when registration is required
pursuant to federal law, and that information is provided by the
person to the Labor Commissioner.

(7) Each of the person’s employees has registered as a farm
labor contractor employee pursuant to the federal Migrant and
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 1801
et seq.) if that registration is required pursuant to federal law, and
that information is provided by the person to the Labor
Commissioner.

(8) (A) The person has executed a written statement, that has
been provided to the Labor Commissioner, attesting that the
person’s supervisorial employees, including any supervisor,
crewleader, mayordomo, foreperson, or other employee whose
duties include the supervision, direction, or control of agricultural
employees, have been trained at least once for at least two hours
each calendar year in the prevention of sexual harassment in the
workplace, and that all new nonsupervisorial employees, including
agricultural employees, have been trained at the time of hire, and
that all nonsupervisorial employees, including agricultural
employees, have been trained at least once every two years in
identifying, preventing, and reporting sexual harassment in the
workplace.

(B) Sexual harassment prevention training shall consist of
training administered by a licensee or appropriate designee of the
licensee.

(C) Sexual harassment prevention training shall include, at a
minimum, components of the following as consistent with Section
12950 of the Government Code:

(i) The illegality of sexual harassment.

(ii) The definition of sexual harassment under applicable state
and federal law.

(iii) A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples.

(iv) The internal complaint process of the employer available
to the employee.

(v) The legal remedies and complaint process available through
the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

(vi) Directions for how to contact the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing.

(vii) The protection against retaliation provided under current
law.

(D) The trainer may use the text of the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing’s pamphlet DFEH-185, “Sexual
Harassment” as a guide to training, or may use other written
material or other training resources covering the information
required in subparagraph (C).

(E) At the conclusion of the training, the trainer shall provide
the employee with a copy of the Department of Fair Employment
and Housing’s pamphlet DFEH-185, and a record of the training
on a form provided by the Labor Commissioner that includes the
name of the trainer and the date of the training.

(F) The licensee shall keep a record with the names of all
employees who have received sexual harassment training for a
period of three years.

(b) The Labor Commissioner shall consult with the Director of
Pesticide Regulation, the Department of the California Highway
Patrol, the Department of Housing and Community Development,
the Employment Development Department, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing, the Department of Food and
Agriculture, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Division
of Occupational Safety and Health in preparing the examination
required by paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) and the appropriate
educational materials pertaining to the matters included in the
examination, and may charge a fee of not more than two hundred
dollars ($200) to cover the cost of administration of the
examination.

(c) The person shall also enroll and participate in at least nine
hours of relevant educational classes each year. The classes shall
include at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training.
The classes shall be chosen from a list of approved classes prepared
by the Labor Commissioner, in consultation with the persons and
entities listed in subdivision (b) and county agricultural
commissioners.

(d) The Labor Commissioner may renew a license without
requiring the applicant for renewal to take the examination
specified in paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) if the Labor
Commissioner finds that the applicant meets all of the following
criteria:

(1) Has satisfactorily completed the examination during the
immediately preceding two years.

(2) Has not during the preceding year been found to be in
violation of any applicable laws or regulations including, but not
limited to, Division 7 (commencing with Section 12501) of the
Food and Agricultural Code, subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section
12940 of, and Section 12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code,
Part 1 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 13 of the
Health and Safety Code, Division 2 (commencing with Section
200), Division 4 (commencing with Section 3200), and Division
5 (commencing with Section 6300) of this code, and Chapter 1
(commencing with Section 12500) of Division 6 of the Vehicle
Code.

(3) Has, for each year since the license was obtained, enrolled
and participated in at least eight hours of relevant, educational
classes, chosen from a list of approved classes prepared by the
Labor Commissioner.

(4) Has complied with all other requirements of this section.