Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004: janitorial employees.

Existing law, the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, authorizes an aggrieved employee to bring a civil action to recover specified civil penalties that would otherwise be assessed and collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency on behalf of the employee and other current or former employees for the violation of certain provisions affecting employees. The act requires the employee to follow prescribed procedures before bringing an action and establishes alternate procedures for specific categories of violations. The act requires, except as provided, that 75% of the civil penalties recovered by aggrieved employees be distributed to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for enforcement of labor laws and for education of employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities, and 25% be distributed to the aggrieved employees. Existing law requires a person or entity that employs one or more janitors or otherwise engages by contract, subcontract, or franchise agreement for the provision of janitorial services, as specified, to register with the Labor Commissioner as a property service employer annually and prohibits them from conducting business without a registration. This bill would except from the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 a janitorial employee, as defined, represented by a labor organization that has represented janitors before January 1, 2021, and employed by a janitorial contractor who registered with the commissioner as a property service employer in calendar year 2020, with respect to work performed under a valid collective bargaining agreement in effect any time before July 1, 2028, that contains certain provisions, including, among others, a grievance and binding arbitration procedure to redress violations that authorizes the arbitrator to award otherwise available remedies. The bill would require a janitorial contractor who has entered into an agreement as prescribed to share, within 60 days of entering the agreement, specified information about the agreement with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The bill would specify that its provisions do not apply to existing cases filed before the effective date of the bill and does not prevent a janitorial employee from filing certain actions. The bill would authorize the exception until the collective bargaining agreement expires or until July 1, 2028, whichever is earlier, and would repeal the bill's provisions on July 1, 2028.