Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to investigate allegations that a contractor or subcontractor violated the law regulating public works projects, including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Existing law requires certified copies of records to be available upon request by the public and sets forth a process for the public to request the records either through the awarding body or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Existing law makes any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative who neglects to comply with the requirements to keep accurate payroll records guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the awarding body, if a request is made by the public through the awarding body and the body is not in possession of the certified records, to obtain those records from the relevant contractor and make them available to the requesting entity. The bill would authorize the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to enforce certain penalties if a contractor fails to comply with the awarding body's request within 10 days of receipt of the notice. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, consisting of various departments and entities, including the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law requires the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to, among other things, maintain a telephone line, as specified, for the purpose of providing interested persons with information concerning their rights and responsibilities, as prescribed, or for referring persons to the appropriate agency or entity with the capacity to render advice or help in dealing with any situation arising out of agricultural labor disputes. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to, among other things, perform specified functions, including fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, under the direction of the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations and sets forth its powers and duties regarding the enforcement of labor laws. Existing law also establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations and requires the division to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, or Division of Occupational Safety and Health, upon intake of a complaint from an agricultural employee by any department, division, or board within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to collaborate with each other and take all reasonable efforts to transmit the complaint to the appropriate entity for processing and investigation. The bill would prohibit the transmitting entity from disclosing the identity and personal information of the agricultural employee complainant to the extent prohibited by law without their consent. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
Existing law requires workers employed on public works to be paid not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality that the public work is performed, as prescribed, unless an exception applies. Existing law requires the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations to determine the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality in which the public work is to be performed. Under existing law, per diem wages include certain employer payments made pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement or for a program or committee established under the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978, as specified. Existing law provides that these payments are a credit against the obligation to pay the general prevailing rate of per diem wages. Existing law requires the credit for employer payments to be computed on an annualized basis where the employer seeks credit for employer payments that are higher for public works projects than for private construction performed by the same employer, except under certain circumstances, including a determination by the director that annualization would not serve the purposes of the provisions relating to public works projects. This bill would remove that exception and revoke annualization exemptions authorized by the director prior to January 1, 2026. The bill would authorize an employer to take full credit for the hourly amounts contributed to defined contribution pension plans that provide for both immediate participation and essentially immediate vesting even if the employer contributes at a lower rate or does not make contributions to private construction. The bill would require the employer to prove that the credit for employer payments was calculated properly. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to deny the employer credit for employment payments if the employer does not produce payment records. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
Existing law authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for an eligible agricultural employee housing development that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as specified, and is not subject to a conditional use permit if certain requirements are met, including that the development is located on specified land in the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz and is within 15 miles of an area designated as farmland or grazing by the Department of Conservation and is not a site or adjoined to a site where more than 13 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, as specified. The act defines an eligible agricultural housing development as an agricultural employee housing development that meets certain requirements, including that the development does not contain more than 36 units or spaces, or 150 units or spaces for developments located in the County of Santa Clara or the County of Santa Cruz, designed for use by a single family or household. This bill would expand eligibility for the approval process under these provisions to include a development located in the Counties of Fresno, Madera, or Merced that meets the above-described requirements that it be located within 15 miles of an area designated as farmland or grazing and not on a site or adjoined to a site where more than 13 of the square footage on the site is dedicated to industrial use, as specified. The bill would also increase the maximum number of units in an eligible agricultural employee housing development from 36 units to 150 units if the development is located in the Counties of Fresno, Madera, or Merced. By expanding the scope of developments eligible for approval, thereby increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Fresno, Madera, and Merced. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board to license and regulate contractors and establishes the registrar of contractors as the executive officer and secretary of the board. Existing law requires the registrar, upon receipt of the Labor Commissioner's finding of a willful or deliberate violation of the Labor Code by a licensee or transmission to the board of citations or other actions taken by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, to initiate disciplinary action against the licensee within 18 months. This bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action to impose discipline upon, to deny an application for, or to deny continued maintenance of, a contractor's license for failing to pay its workers the full amount of wages the workers are entitled to under state law or because the contractor has not fulfilled a wage judgment or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding the payment of wages to its workers. The bill would require the Attorney General to notify the registrar before bringing a civil action and would authorize the board to intervene in a proceeding brought pursuant to the bill's provisions. The bill would require a court to issue an order directing the registrar to suspend or revoke, to deny an application for, or to deny the continued maintenance of, a contractor's license under terms specified by the court.
Existing law, the California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. The Budget Act of 2025 appropriated $5,000,000 to the board to support workforce development in areas of the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura impacted by wildfires. This bill would require the board to allocate the funds from that appropriation to the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity for, among other things, workforce development strategies, such as education or supportive services, including stipends for underemployed and unemployed low- to moderate-income individuals to ensure a skilled and sufficient workforce for the scale of rebuilding and recovery of areas in the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura impacted by the 2025 wildfires and to support underemployed and unemployed low- to moderate-income workers affected by the fires. The bill would require the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity to reallocate $600,000 to the Economic Development Collaborative for those purposes. The bill would require the board to allow the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity to subcontract with other entities to fulfill the provisions and intent of the bill and would require the board to require quality standards and practices, as specified. The bill would require the Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity to focus on employment in jobs in certain professions and industries, including construction, firefighting, and health care, or other areas essential to emergency response, disaster relief, recovery, rebuilding, and regional economic development and resilience. The bill would require individuals participating in programs funded by the bill to have access to expedited licensing and certification, if feasible. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura.
Existing law imposes varying requirements upon employers to share the pay scale for a position with an applicant or in a job posting, as provided. Existing law defines "pay scale" as the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position. This bill would revise the definition of "pay scale" to mean an estimate of this expected wage range that an employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire and is made in good faith. Existing law prohibits an employer from paying its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex or another race or ethnicity for substantially similar work, except under specified circumstances. Existing law requires a civil action to recover wages for a violation of those provisions to be commenced no later than 2 years after the cause of action occurs or, if the cause of action arises out of a willful violation, no later than 3 years after the cause of action occurs. This bill would prohibit an employer from paying employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of another sex instead of the opposite sex, and would require a civil action to recover wages to be commenced no later than 3 years after the last date the cause of action occurs. The bill would provide that an employee is entitled to obtain relief for the entire period of time in which a violation of its provisions exists, but not to exceed 6 years. This bill would specify that a cause of action occurs when an alleged unlawful compensation decision or practice is adopted, when an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice, or when an individual is affected by the application of the decision or practice. The bill would provide that its provisions do not prohibit the application of prescribed legal doctrine. The bill would define "wages," "wage rates," and "sex" for purposes of those provisions, and would specify that its provisions shall not be construed to define these terms for other purposes.
Existing law, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Act, establishes the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority with various powers and duties relative to transportation projects and services and the operation of public transit in the County of Santa Clara. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in state government as a means of resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of specified public employers and employees under various acts regulating collective bargaining, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. Existing law vests PERB with jurisdiction to enforce certain provisions related to the authority's employees, over charges of unfair practices for represented authority employees, subject to a selection by an exclusive representative. Existing law, in the case of such a selection, gives PERB jurisdiction over the initial determination as to whether those charges are justified and, if so, the appropriate remedy, subject to certain restrictions. This bill would authorize any charging party, respondent, or intervenor aggrieved by a final decision or order of PERB in an unfair practice case, except a decision of PERB not to issue a complaint in such a case, to petition for a writ of extraordinary relief from that decision or order, as specified. The bill, if the time to petition for extraordinary relief from a PERB decision or order has expired, would authorize PERB to seek enforcement of any final decision or order in a district court of appeal or superior court having jurisdiction over the county where the events giving rise to the decision or order occurred, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the authority.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law authorizes the board to appoint committees and make rules and regulations, as specified. Existing law generally requires, as a condition precedent to the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal, or continued maintenance of a license, a licensed contractor or applicant for licensure to have on file at all times with the board a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance in the applicant's or licensee's business name, as specified. Existing law generally makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. Existing law exempts from this requirement an applicant or licensee who has no employees, provided that they file a statement with the board before the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, or continued maintenance of a license certifying that they do not employ any person, as specified, and who does not hold a specified license issued by the board, including a C-8 license, as defined. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2028. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2028, removes the above-specified exemptions, and instead exempts from the above-described filing requirement an applicant or licensee organized as a joint venture that has no employees, provided that they file a statement with the board before the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, or continued maintenance of a license certifying that they do not employ any person, as specified. Existing law requires the board, by no later than January 1, 2027, to establish a process and procedure to verify that applicants or licensees without an employee or employees are eligible for exemption from the workers' compensation insurance requirement, and authorizes the process or procedure to include an audit, proof, or other means, to verify eligibility. This bill would require that verification process or procedure to include an audit, proof, or other means to obtain evidence to verify eligibility for exemption from the workers' compensation insurance requirement. The bill would also require the board to report its proposed verification process to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2027. Existing law makes the filing of an exemption certificate for workers' compensation insurance on file with the board that is false, or the employment of a person subject to coverage under the workers' compensation laws after the filing of an exemption certificate without first filing a Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance in accordance with specified provisions or without maintaining coverage for that person, cause for disciplinary action. This bill would include as disciplinary action, among other penalties, a minimum civil penalty of $10,000 per violation for any sole owner licensee found to have employed workers without maintaining workers' compensation coverage, and would make conforming changes. The bill would prohibit the board from renewing or reinstating a license subject to the above-described disciplinary action until the applicant or licensee provides the board a current and valid Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance in the applicant's or licensee's business name. Existing law requires the board to report annually to the Legislature, no later than October 1 of each year, certain statistical information for the prior fiscal year, including, among other things, the number of disciplinary actions taken by the board categorized by type, as specified, and by whether the disciplinary action resulted from an accusation, failure to comply with a citation, or failure to comply with an arbitration award. This bill would require that the report specify the number of disciplinary actions for violations of specified provisions relating to the filing of a workers' compensation insurance exemption certificate or a certification of self-insurance. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 7099.2 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 779 to be operative only if this bill and SB 779 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing board. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. The Public Utilities Act authorizes the commission, after a hearing, to require every public utility to construct, maintain, and operate its line, plant, system, equipment, apparatus, tracks, and premises in a manner so as to promote and safeguard the health and safety of its employees, passengers, customers, and the public, and authorizes the commission to prescribe the installation, use, maintenance, and operation of appropriate safety or other devices or appliances. Existing law requires a person or entity that acquires an automated external defibrillator (AED) to comply with all regulations governing the placement of an AED, notify an agent of the local emergency medical service agency of the existence, location, and type of AED acquired, ensure the AED is maintained and tested according to the operation and maintenance guidelines set forth by the manufacturer, ensure that the AED is tested at least biannually and after each use, ensure that a specified inspection is made of all AEDs on the premises at least every 90 days, and ensure that records of this maintenance and testing are maintained. Existing law provides that any person who, in good faith and not for compensation, renders emergency care or treatment by the use of an AED at the scene of an emergency is not liable for any civil damages resulting from any acts or omissions in rendering the emergency care, except in the case of personal injury or wrongful death that results from the gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct of the person who renders emergency care or treatment by the use of an AED. This bill, the Justin Kropp Safety Act, would require each utility, which is defined to mean an electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or local publicly owned electric utility, and an independent contractor or subcontractor of the utility, to have an AED available at every worksite where 2 or more electrical utility workers are performing work on transmission or distribution lines of 601 volts or more (AED requirement) . The bill would require the utility, and the independent contractor or subcontractor of the utility, to adopt specified written policies and procedures (policy requirement) , and to comply with the placement, notification, maintenance, testing, inspection, and recordkeeping requirements described above. This bill would provide that the above-described exemption from civil liability applies to a person who renders, in good faith and not for compensation, emergency care and treatment by use of an AED. The bill would also apply that exemption to a utility, and an independent contractor or subcontractor of the utility, that acquires an AED for emergency use, makes reasonable efforts to comply with the AED and policy requirements, and complies with the above-described placement, notification, maintenance, testing, inspection and recordkeeping requirements. The bill would not apply the civil liability exemption in case of gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct by the person rendering emergency care or treatment by the use of an AED. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Additionally, by placing additional duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
