BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1230|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1230
Author: DeSaulnier (D)
Amended: 4/21/10
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMM : 4-2, 4/19/10
AYES: DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Leno, Yee
NOES: Wyland, Hollingsworth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 5/10/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Denham, Walters
SUBJECT : Employment: posting requirements
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires employers to post information
related to slavery and human trafficking, including
information related to a non profit organization that
provides services in support of the elimination of slavery
and human trafficking. This bill requires the Labor
Commissioner to determine in what languages the required
notice shall be printed and enforce its provisions.
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, both state and federal,
employers must meet workplace posting obligations.
Existing state law requires California employers to post a
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variety of employment-related information for employees,
including information relating to the payment of wages,
hours and working conditions, workers' compensation, and
discrimination in employment. Workplace postings are
usually available at no cost from the requiring agency.
Employers are required to conspicuously display the various
posters in an area frequented by employees where it may be
easily read during the workday. Additional posting
requirements apply to some workplaces.
Existing law requires employers to provide specified
posters in various languages. Failure to comply with
workplace posting requirements is a misdemeanor and may be
punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both. Each employer
is required to take necessary steps to insure that notices
are not altered, defaced or covered by other material.
Existing state law makes human trafficking a crime and
allows a victim of human trafficking to bring a civil
action for actual damages, compensatory damages, punitive
damages, injunctive relief, any combination of those, or
any other appropriate relief. Under the existing Victims
of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, the
federal law acknowledges the crime of human trafficking,
and delineates various federal actions to combat
trafficking, punish perpetrators, and provides services to
victims of trafficking.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/10)
Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking
Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Polaris Project
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to proponents, the
problem of human trafficking is a much larger and more
global issue than most people grasp. According to the U.S.
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Department of Health and Human Services, after drug
trafficking, human trafficking is tied with the illegal
arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in
the world today, and it is the fastest growing. Experience
in the field has demonstrated that one of the best tools to
combat human trafficking is raising public awareness of the
problem. Proponents believe that this bill not only
provides an opportunity for many people to become aware of
the issue through employer signage, but provides a tool for
action by providing specific information about the
hotlines.
Proponents state that in this globalized economy, the race
to the bottom is visible as free trade policies have
allowed corporations to jump from country to country in
search of the cheapest labor and least regulation.
Products are produced throughout the globe using forced
labor, child labor, indentured servitude, and other abusive
conditions. Even right here in California, they assert,
the underground economy thrives on wage theft, many
domestic workers are the victims of trafficking, and many
workplaces are sweatshops without the most basic worker
protections. While the state of California cannot always
eradicate such labor conditions, it should provide
information to workers of their rights and protections
afforded them under the law in regard to human trafficking.
According to the author's office, while federal and state
law enforcement works to investigate the criminal networks
involved in human trafficking, local and state police and
community members, including neighbors, healthcare workers,
teachers, and shop keepers, among others, are most often in
the best position to recognize and report possible
instances of human trafficking. The author believes human
trafficking hotlines currently available to assist victims
are the most centralized outlet to process and respond to
calls for help. Proponents state that high visibility and
awareness of human trafficking hotlines gives workers the
resources they need to expose violations of the law, while
at the same time increasing the chances that potential
human trafficking will be reported, and that human
traffickers will be stopped.
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PQ:nl 5/11/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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