SB 1342, as amended, Mendoza. Wages: investigations: subpoenas.
Existing law authorizes the Industrial Welfare Commission to subpoena witnesses. Existing law provides that if a person fails to comply with an order or subpoena of the commission or a witness refuses to testify to any matter regarding which he or she may lawfully be interrogated before any wage board or the commission, it shall be the duty of the superior court to compel obedience in a manner by which such obedience could be compelled in a proceeding pending before the court.
This bill would specify that a legislative body of a city or county is authorized to delegate that body’s authority to issue subpoenas and to report noncompliance thereof to the judge of the superior court of the county, to a county or city official or department head in order to enforcebegin insert any local law or ordinance, includingend insert local wage laws. The bill would provide legislative findings in support of this provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(1) Wage theft is prevalent among immigrant and low-wage
4workers in California.
5(2) Los Angeles County, where approximately $26.6 million in
6wages is stolen from laborers every week, has been dubbed by
7some as the “wage theft capital” of the United States.
8(3) The Economic Roundtable and the University of California,
9Los Angeles, indicate that violations of wage laws in Los Angeles
10are pervasive, with 30 percent of low-wage workers in Los Angeles
11receiving
less than the minimum wage and 88.5 percent of workers
12experiencing some sort of wage theft.
13(4) Wage theft can cause workers extreme financial hardship,
14making it harder for workers experiencing wage theft to take care
15of their families and contribute to the state economy.
16(5) According to the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission
17on California State Government Organization and Economy, wage
18enforcement resources in California have not kept pace with
19increases in the number of employers and increased complexity
20of the employer-employee relationship. Local jurisdictions,
21including the City and County of San Francisco, the City of Los
22Angeles, and the County of Los Angeles, have addressed the need
23for additional wage enforcement resources by establishing local
24wage enforcement
agencies.
25(6) In California, 14 local jurisdictions have enacted minimum
26wage ordinances. The majority of these jurisdictions have
27designated or created local agencies to enforce local wage laws.
28(7) Local wage enforcement is an effective means of combating
29wage theft. For example, San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards
30Enforcement recovered 90.5 percent of wages and interest owed
31to workers between 2003 and 2013.
32(8) Pursuant to Sections 25207, 27721, and 37104, and Dibb v.
33County of San Diego, (8 Cal. 4th 1200), cities and counties are
34authorized to delegate to local officials the authority to issue
35subpoenas in support of enforcing local wage ordinances.
36(b) It
is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this measure to
37promote honest pay for fair work by giving local wage enforcement
38programs all of the tools necessary to conduct successful wage
P3 1claim investigations in order to recover unpaid back wages for
2hardworking Californians.
3(c) Cities and counties are encouraged to develop and enact
4specific measures to target and remedy wage theft.
Section 53060.4 is added to the Government Code, to
6read:
(a) The legislative body of a city or county may
8delegate to a county or city official or department head its authority
9to issue subpoenas and to report noncompliance thereof to the
10judge of the superior court of the county, in order to enforcebegin delete local begin insert any local law or ordinance, including, but not limited
11wage laws.end delete
12to, local wage laws.end insert
13(b) The Legislature finds and declares that these provisions do
14not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law.
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