Employment: unpaid wages and benefits: internet website.

Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to collect unpaid wages and monetary benefits due to an employee. Under existing law, the commissioner acts as trustee and deposits the collected wages and benefits into the Industrial Relations Unpaid Wage Fund. Existing law requires the commissioner to make a diligent search to locate any worker for whom the commissioner has collected unpaid wages or benefits. Existing law requires the commissioner to remit those wages or benefits to the unpaid worker or the worker's representative, or to a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide prescribed benefits. This bill would require the commissioner to establish a database of unpaid wages or benefits collected pursuant to these provisions, indexed by employee name and listing prescribed information. The bill would require the department to make the database available to the public in a searchable format on its internet website.