BILL NUMBER: SB 796 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 26, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senator Dunn
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Part 13 (commencing with Section 2698) to Division 2
of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 796, as amended, Dunn. Employment.
Under existing law, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and
its departments, divisions, commissions, boards, agencies, or
employees may assess and collect penalties for violations of the
Labor Code.
This bill would allow aggrieved employees to bring civil actions
to recover these penalties, if the agency or its departments,
divisions, commissions, boards, agencies, or employees do not do so.
The penalties collected in these actions would be distributed 50% to
the General Fund, 25% to the agency for education, to be available
for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature, and 25% to the
aggrieved employee. In addition, the aggrieved employee would be
authorized to recover attorney's fees and costs. For any violation
of the code for which no civil penalty is otherwise established, the
bill would establish a civil penalty.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Adequate financing of essential labor law enforcement
functions is necessary to achieve maximum compliance with state labor
laws in the underground economy and to ensure an effective
disincentive for employers to engage in unlawful and anticompetitive
business practices.
(b) Although innovative labor law education programs and
self-policing efforts by industry watchdog groups may have some
success in educating some employers about their obligations under
state labor laws, in other cases the only meaningful deterrent to
unlawful conduct is the vigorous assessment and collection of civil
penalties as provided in the Labor Code.
(c) Staffing levels for state labor law enforcement agencies have,
in general, declined over the last decade and are likely to fail to
keep up with the growth of the labor market in the future.
(d) It is therefore in the public interest to provide that civil
penalties for violations of the Labor Code may also be assessed and
collected by aggrieved employees acting as private attorneys general,
while also ensuring that state labor law enforcement agencies'
enforcement actions have primacy over any private enforcement efforts
undertaken pursuant to this act.
SEC. 2. Part 13 (commencing with Section 2698) is added to
Division 2 of the Labor Code, to read:
PART 13. THE LABOR CODE PRIVATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL ACT OF 2004
2698. This part shall be known and may be cited as the Labor Code
Private Attorneys General Act of 2004.
2699. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
provision of this code that provides for a civil penalty to be
assessed and collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency
or any of its departments, divisions, commissions, boards, agencies,
or employees, for a violation of this code, may, as an alternative,
be recovered through a civil action.
(b) For all provisions of this code except those for which a civil
penalty has already been established, there is established a civil
penalty for a violation of these provisions, as follows:
(1) If no criminal penalty amount has been established for a
violation of the provision, the civil penalty is one hundred dollars
($100) per employee per pay period for the initial violation and two
hundred dollars ($200) per employee per pay period for each
subsequent violation. If the person does not employ one or more
(1) If the person does not employ one or more employees, the
civil penalty is five hundred dollars ($500).
(2) If a criminal penalty has been established for a violation of
the provision, the civil penalty is the amount of the criminal
penalty, or
(2) If the person employs one or more employees, the civil penalty
is one hundred dollars ($100) per employee per pay period for
the initial violation and two hundred dollars ($200) per employee per
pay period for each subsequent violation , whichever is
greater. If the person does not employ one or more employees, the
civil penalty shall be the amount of the criminal penalty or five
hundred dollars ($500), whichever is greater. .
(c) An aggrieved employee may recover the civil penalty described
in subdivision (b) in a civil action filed on behalf of himself or
herself or others. Any employee who prevails, in whole or in part,
in any action shall be entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's
fees and costs. Nothing in this section shall operate to limit an
employee's right to pursue other remedies available under state or
federal law, either separately or concurrently with an action taken
under this section.
(d) No action may be maintained under this section by an aggrieved
employee if the agency or any of its departments, divisions,
commissions, boards, agencies, or employees, on the same facts and
theories, cites a person for a violation of the code and initiates
proceedings to collect applicable penalties.
(e) Civil penalties recovered by aggrieved employees shall be
distributed as follows: 50 percent to the General Fund, 25 percent
to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for education of
employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under
this code, available for expenditure upon appropriation by the
Legislature, and 25 percent to the aggrieved employees.