Wage and Hour

February 2, 1015 by Beeson Tayer & Bodine

Low-Wage Name and Shame – AB 1792 (Gomez)
This law, intended to expose corporate low-wage employers like WalMart and McDonalds, requires the state to post a list of the top 500 employers employing 100 or more Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The list will expose those employers who pay such low wages that their employees need to rely on public assistance. The state is not required to first post the list until January 2016. This legislation also prohibits employers from retaliating or otherwise discriminating against employees enrolled in public assistance programs.

Labor Contractor Responsibility – AB 1897 (Hernández)
Requires companies that use labor contractors to share responsibility and civil liability for those contractors’ acts of wage theft and their failure to obtain valid workers’ compensation coverage. The Labor Commissioner, Cal/OSHA, and the EDD are all authorized to administer and enforce the bill. This law is a big win, as it creates shared responsibility for the treatment of workers.

Wage Theft Penalties – AB 2074 (Hernández)
This new law extends the time during which a worker can make a claim for liquidated damages as a result of wage theft — meaning payment of less than the minimum wage. Now liquidated damages and interest are available for three years, the same period for the recovery of the unpaid wages.

Minimum Wage Penalties – AB 1723 (Nazarian)
This bill provides that when the Labor Commissioner cites an employer for failure to pay the minimum wage, the employer will also be subject to any applicable waiting time penalties in addition to existing civil penalties, restitution of wages, and liquidated damages. Under current law, the Labor Commissioner did not have the authority to collected “waiting time” penalties when it issued a minimum wage citation. This new law will help with a speedier recovery of “waiting time” penalties in and employees would not be forced to file a separate DLSE complaint to collect.

Rest and Recovery Breaks – SB 1360 (Padilla)
This bill requires employers to consider rest or recovery breaks as hours worked, for which no deduction of wages can be made. These will include all break periods mandated by statute, regulation, standard, or order from the Industrial Welfare Commission or the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. California employees are generally entitled to a ten-minute rest break for every four hours worked, and certain jobs with risk of heat illness require “recovery periods” for cooling down. SB 1360 also establishes a penalty of one additional hour of pay for each workday that the employee is not provided a required recovery break.

Waiting Time Penalties for Entertainment Industry – AB 2743 (Committee on Labor and Employment)
Certain employees in the entertainment industry will now be able to recover civil penalties from their employer if they are not paid their final wages according to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Under current law, employees in the entertainment industry are not entitled to receive waiting time penalties according to the Labor Code.

Wage and Hour Regulations for Foreign Labor Contractors – SB 477 (Steinberg)
Beginning on July 1, 2016, the California Business and Professions Code will impose tougher regulations upon foreign labor contractors to prevent human trafficking and worker exploitation. Foreign labor contractors will be required to register with the California Labor Commissioner and post a bond from which the contractor will have to pay interest on foreign worker wages or other monetary relief if the contractor violates applicable laws. Employers must also provide foreign workers with information, in their primary language, about an employer’s identity, a copy of the work contract, a list of expenses the worker will be charged, and a statement that the contractor cannot charge the worker for the contractor’s own labor contracting costs. Foreign workers will also be protected from retaliation for exercising protected rights and may seek an injunction or damages from a foreign labor contractor that fails to comply with the regulations.

Child Labor Protections – AB 2288 (Hernandez)
This new law provides further protections related to child labor by allowing an individual to receive treble damages if they are discriminated against in terms or conditions of his or her employment for filing a claim alleging a violation of employment laws while the individual was a minor. The new law also requires the statute of limitations of certain employment laws be tolled until the aggrieved employee attains majority.

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