BILL NUMBER: SB 796 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 12, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2003
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 brought by an aggrieved employee
on behalf of himself or herself or and
other current or former employees.
(b) For purposes of this part, "person" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 18.
(c) For purposes of this part, "aggrieved employee" means any
person who was employed by the alleged violator within the
period of time covered by the applicable statute of limitations
and against whom one or more of the alleged violations was
committed.
(d) For all provisions of this code except those for which a civil
penalty has already been established is
specifically provided , there is established a civil penalty
for a violation of these provisions, as follows:
(1) If , at the time of the alleged violation, the
person does not employ one or more employees, the civil penalty is
five hundred dollars ($500).
(2) If , at the time of the alleged violation, the
person employs one or more employees, the civil penalty is one
hundred dollars ($100) for each aggrieved employee per pay period for
the initial violation and two hundred dollars ($200) for each
aggrieved employee per pay period for each subsequent violation.
(e) An aggrieved employee may recover the civil penalty described
in subdivision (b) (d) in a civil
action filed on behalf of himself or herself and other current or
former employees for whom evidence of a violation was
developed during the trial or during settlement of the action
against whom one or more of the alleged violations was
committed . Any employee who prevails 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.
(f) 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 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 or initiates a proceeding pursuant to Section
98.3 .
(g) Except as provided in subdivision (g)
(h) , 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.
(h) Civil penalties recovered under paragraph (1) of subdivision
(d) 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.