BILL NUMBER: AB 227	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cook

                        FEBRUARY 4, 2009

   An act to add Section 108 to the Labor Code, relating to labor
standards.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 227, as introduced, Cook. Labor standards: consultation unit.
   Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the
enforcement of labor laws.
   This bill would establish in the division the Labor Standards
Consultation Unit for the purpose of providing consulting services to
an employer or employee regarding compliance with labor standards.
The bill would authorize the unit to charge a requester a fee for
consulting services provided, not to exceed the actual cost to the
unit, and to fund its operation from grants obtained from for-profit
or not-for-profit nongovernmental entities. The bill would prohibit
the division from citing an employer for a violation of any labor
standard, order, or regulation discovered as a result of an employer
requesting or accepting services from the unit pursuant to the bill
if the employer remedies the violation within 30 days.
   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.  Section 108 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
   108.  (a) There is established in the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement, the Labor Standards Consultation Unit to provide, upon
request, a full range of consulting services to any employer or
employee. Those consulting services shall include, but are not
limited to, providing an employer with information, advice, or
recommendations on complying with labor standards, orders, or
regulations adopted pursuant to this code.
   (b) (1) The unit may charge the requester a fee for consulting
services provided pursuant to this section, not to exceed the actual
cost to the unit.
   (2) The unit may fund its operation through grants obtained from
for-profit or not-for-profit nongovernmental entities.
   (c) The division may not cite an employer for a violation of any
standard, order, or regulation adopted pursuant to this code, if the
violation is discovered as a result of an employer requesting or
accepting consulting services offered pursuant to this section and,
if within 30 days of that discovery, the employer takes corrective
action that remedies the violation.