BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 442
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 1, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                AB 442 (Nazarian) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              Labor and  
          Employment   Vote:                            7-0
                        Judiciary                             10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill allows an employee to recover liquidated wages for  
          citations issued by the Labor Commissioner (LC) for minimum wage  
          violations, as specified.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Industrial  
          Relations (DIR) to implement this measure.  

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  Existing law subjects an employer who pays an employee  
          less than the minimum wage to a civil penalty and restitution,  
          as specified.  Statute further authorizes the LC, upon  
          inspection or investigation, to issue a citation to a person who  
          is paying less than the minimum wage.  According to DIR, it  
          issued 133 citations for minimum wage violations in the 2011-12  
          fiscal year.    

          Current law specifies an employee who is paid less than the  
          minimum wage is entitled to recover the unpaid balance of the  
          full amount of the minimum wage and interest, where applicable.   
          Whether or not the employee is entitled to liquidated damages  
          depends on the manner in which the minimum wage violation was  
          determined (i.e., via a civil action, an administrative wage  
          claim hearing, or a citation issued by the LC).  For example, an  
          employee who is paid less than the minimum wage is entitled to  
          recover in a civil action, the unpaid balance of the full amount  
          of the minimum wage, liquidated damages in an amount equal to  








                                                                  AB 442
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          the wages unlawfully paid and interest, reasonable attorney's  
          fees and costs of the suit.    

          AB 240 (Bonilla), Chapter 272, Statutes of 2011, authorized the  
          LC to award liquidated damages to an employee via an  
          administrative wage claim hearing.  Chapter 272 established  
          parity to employees in awarding liquidated damages between the  
          two wage proceedings - civil action and administrative hearings.  
           This bill, sponsored by the California Rural Legal Assistance  
          Foundation, extends this parity to minimum wage violations  
          determined by citations issued by the LC, as specified.    


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081