BILL NUMBER: SB 796 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2003
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 , except that if the person does not employ
one or more persons, the penalties would be distributed 50% to the
General Fund and 50% to the agency . 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 purposes of this part, "person" has the same meaning
as defined in Section 18.
(c) 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 the person does not employ one or more employees, the civil
penalty is five hundred dollars ($500).
(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 .
(c)
(d) 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)
(e) 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 same section or sections of the Labor Code under
which the aggrieved employee is attempting to recover a civil penalty
on behalf of himself or herself or others and initiates
proceedings to collect applicable penalties.
(e) Civil
(f) Except as provided in subdivision (g), 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.
(g) Civil penalties recovered under paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) shall be distributed as follows: 50 percent to the General Fund
and 50 percent to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency
available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature.