BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1744
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1744 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires temporary services employers to include the
following information on the itemized payroll statement provided
to employees:
1)The name and address of the legal entities that secured the
services of the employer.
2)The total hours worked for each legal entity.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Industrial
Relations to implement this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law defines a "temporary services
employer" as an employing unit that contracts with clients or
customers to supply workers to perform services and specified
functions, including the following:
a) Negotiates with clients and customers for matters such
as the time and place where the services are to be
provided, the type of work, the working conditions, and the
quality and price of the services.
b) Determines assignments or reassignments of workers, as
specified.
c) Retains the authority to assign or reassign a worker to
another client or customer when the worker is determined
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unacceptable by a specific client or customer.
d) Assigns or reassigns workers to perform services for
clients or customers.
Statute further exempts a farm labor contractor, a garment
manufacturing employer, and a bona fide nonprofit organization
that provides temporary service employees from this
definition.
Current law requires every employer, at the time of each
payment, to furnish each employee with an itemized payroll
statement that includes information related to wages earned,
hours worked, all deductions, and the name and address of the
legal entity that is the employer.
2)Purpose . In 2010, the United States Bureau of Labor
Statistics released an article entitled: The Expanded Role of
Temporary Help Services from 1990-2008 (Luo, T; Mann, A;
Holden, R), which revealed during this time period employment
in the temporary help services industry grew from 1.1 million
to 2.3 million, which represented 1.7 million of total U.S.
employment in 2008.
The article also documented that until recently the western
region of the United States generally had a higher
concentration of temporary workers. For example, "the
concentration of temp help services employment stayed above
the national average during most of the 18-year period. In
2007 and 2008, though, the concentration of temps in the West
region was below the national average. One factor that may
have played a role in the recent decline in the concentration
of temporary help services employment in the West is the large
decline in construction employment following the housing
bubble, which was most acute in the West region."
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Despite a
steep decline in temporary employment in recent years, the
industry has remained an important indicator of the overall
economy. Employers rely on temporary workers to achieve
greater workforce flexibility. During economic expansions,
temp workers are among the first to be hired, and during times
of recession, temporary workers are laid off in
disproportionate numbers. Hence, temporary help services has
grown in importance not only with respect to the industries
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and occupations associated with it and the areas where it is
found, but also because of its function as a macroeconomic
buffer during periods of economic volatility."
According to the author, "Over the past 30 years, the
percentage of Californians whose jobs are temporary has nearly
quadrupled. California labor law needs to be updated to
reflect this change. This bill would require a "temporary
services employer" to include the legal entities that secured
the services of the employer and how many hours an employee
worked for each legal entity."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081