Wage and Hour Appeals
AB 223 makes it harder for employers to recover attorney’s fees and costs in connection with an employee’s appeal from a labor commissioner wage and hour ruling. If the court awards the employee a sum greater than zero in the appeal, the appeal is successful and the employer can’t recover its fees and costs. The law overturns a California Supreme Court decision that held an appeal was unsuccessful if the trial court awarded the appealing party any amount less than thelabor commissioner awarded.
Meal and Rest Period Exemptions
AB 98 authorizes the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) to adopt wage order provisions exempting an employee of a public agency who operates a commercial motor vehicle from meal- or rest-period provisions of the wage order, as long as the worker is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
And under AB 330, employees in the wholesale baking industry are exempt from meal period regulations if they’re covered by a union contract specifying a 35-hour workweek consisting of five seven-hour days, time and a half for overtime, and a rest period of at least 10 minutes every two hours.
The HR Management & Compliance Report: How To Comply with California Wage & Hour Law, explains everything you need to know to stay in compliance with the state’s complex and ever-changing rules, laws, and regulations in this area. Coverage on bonuses, meal and rest breaks, overtime, alternative workweeks, final paychecks, and more.
Increased Penalties for Labor Code Violations
AB 276 boosts the penalties for various California labor code violations, as follows:
- Failure to pay wages. The fine for not paying wages, including overtime, or for illegally withholding wages doubles to $100 for a first offense. For subsequent or willful offenses, the fine increases to $200 plus 25 percent of the amount illegally withheld.
- Minimum wage. The penalty for not paying the minimum wage has risen to $100 for initial, unintentional violations.
- Contractor’s license violations. Penalties increase to $200 per day of employment for an individual who doesn’t hold a valid state contractor’s license but employs workers to perform services that require a license. Similarly, an individual who has a valid state contractor’s license will be hit with a penalty of $200 per person per day for knowingly hiring a contractor to perform services requiring a license if that person doesn’t have a license or doesn’t meet the requirements for independent contractor status.
Prevailing Wage Violations
Under AB 1418, the labor commissioner must maintain a public list of contractors who have willfully violated prevailing wage laws. And the Contractors State License Board must post on the Internet information about a contractor’s willful or deliberate violation of the labor code.
The bill also sets new minimum penalties for prevailing wage violations. The minimum penalty is now $10 per day, except if the contractor made a good-faith mistake and promptly corrected the underpayment. However, the minimum penalty is $20 per day if the contractor has prior violations, and $30 per day if the current violation is willful. The maximum penalty remains unchanged at $50 per day.
The bill also provides that if the labor commissioner issues a civil wage and penalty assessment against a contractor on a public works project, interest will accrue on the unpaid wages until the wages are paid.
Car Wash Employees
AB 1688 regulates the car washing and polishing industry by requiring employer recordkeeping for wages, hours, and working conditions. Car wash employers must register with the labor commissioner and pay a registration fee. Failure to register carries a $100 fine for each calendar day of violation, up to $10,000.
Labor Contracts
SB 179 prohibits entering into a contract or agreement for labor or services with a construction, farm labor, garment, janitorial, orsecurity guard contractor if you know or should know the contract or agreement does not include enough money for the contractor to comply with all laws or regulations relating to the labor or services. Violations carry damages of up to $1,000 per employee plus attorney’s fees and costs.