Governor Schwarzenegger must sign or veto
the following employment related bills by October 9, 2005.
AB 48 (Lieber) would
raise the state minimum wage to $7.25 on July 1, 2006 and $7.65 on July
1, 2007. The bill would also provide for an automatic adjustment of
the minimum wage on January 1 of each following year, calculated by
multiplying the minimum wage by the previous year’s rate of inflation.
AB 169 (Oropeza) would
mandate damage awards and new civil penalties for gender pay equity
violations. Specifically, an employer who does not pay employees of
each gender equally for equal work would be liable for the difference
in the amount of wages, interest thereon, an additional equal amount
in liquidated damages, an amount equal to double the balance of the
wages as a civil penalty, the costs of the lawsuit, and reasonable attorney’s
fees. If it is determined that the employer willfully violated the law,
the aggrieved employee would be entitled to recover the balance of the
wages, including interest thereon, an equal amount of liquidated damages,
an amount equal to four times the balance of the wages as a civil penalty,
the costs of the lawsuit, and reasonable attorney’s fees. The
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement would receive 75% of the penalty
and the aggrieved employee would receive 25% of the penalty.
AB 391 (Koretz) would
require employers to provide unemployment insurance benefits to employees
unemployed due to a strike. If signed into law, AB 391 would become
effective January 1, 2007.
AB 875 (Koretz) would
require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, in consultation
with the Franchise Tax Board and the Joint Enforcement Strike Force
on the Underground Economy to develop and implement by July 1, 2006
a set of standards that, if met by a particular employer, would trigger
a recommendation for an audit or investigation by state tax authorities.
The set of standards would be required to take into account, among other
factors, the severity and number of violations by the employer. After
July 1, 2006, the Labor Commissioner would be required to take the following
actions with respect to an employer who has met the set of above-referenced
standards: (1) notify the tax authorities each time the set of standards
is met by the employer; (2) provide the appropriate state tax authorities
with the name of the employer and all relevant and necessary information
regarding the violations; and (3) make a recommendation to the appropriate
tax authorities that the employer be audited or investigated. AB 875
states that the intent of the bill is “to target those employers
that operate in the underground economy in flagrant violation of law,
and not employers that commit minor or inadvertent violations of existing
law.”
AB 1310 (Nuñez) would
create a detailed notice process that an employer must follow prior
to utilizing a severance agreement. AB 1310 provides that employers
with more than 500 employees must comply with the following requirements
if it seeks the voluntary resignation of a group of 25 or more employees
at the same time that it extends the severance offer: (1) an accurate
written estimate of the tax consequences to the employee of acceptance
of the offer; (2) accurate written projections of the present value
of all compensation, including, but not limited to, wages, health care
benefits, and retirement benefits, that may be lost or impaired as a
result of accepting the offer, assuming the employee were to continue
in his or her employment with the employer for an additional 5, 10,
and 15 years; and (3) a period of 21 days for the employee to consider
the offer. Should the employer fail to comply with the requirements,
it would be liable to each aggrieved employee in the amount of $100
per day for the period from the making of the offer until the date that
the employer provides the required disclosures and reconsideration opportunity.
SB 174 (Dunn) would
provide that any employee receiving less than the legal minimum wage
or the legal overtime compensation would be entitled to recover in a
civil action the unpaid balance of the full amount of the minimum wage
or overtime compensation, including interest thereon, reasonable attorney’s
fees, and costs of the lawsuit. If the employee was paid less than twice
the minimum wage, the civil action to recover unpaid minimum wages or
overtime compensation may be brought by the employee in the interests
of himself or herself and other current and former employees who were
also paid less than twice the state minimum wage.
