Employment: 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 state the intent of the Legislature that the unit ultimately be self-supporting and, to further that end, 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 further fund its operation from grants obtained from for-profit or not-for-profit nongovernmental and governmental 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 and the employer is not the subject of an ongoing investigation by the division.