California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law Assembly Bill 469, also known as The Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 (the Act). The Act requires employers to provide all new nonexempt hires with written notice of specific wage information. It also increases the penalties for nonpayment of all wages due, including overtime premiums and minimum wage for all hours worked. The Act also mandates that the Labor Commissioner prepare a template of the written notice, which the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement (DLSE) issued on December 28. A copy of the template is available online.
The Act is similar to wage theft statutes recently enacted in other states, including New York, New Mexico, Maryland, and Illinois. Below is a summary of the Act's key provisions, which take effect on January 1, 2012.
Background
A UCLA study released in 2010 suggested that wage theft was costing low-wage California workers $26.2 million per week. Further, the DLSE, the state enforcement agency, was reporting more penalties assessed than actually collected. These statistics influenced the legislature to create the newer, heightened incentives for wage and hour compliance that are contained in the Act.
Labor Code § 2810.5: New Written Notice Requirements for New Employees
Under the Act, at "the time of hire" of any nonexempt employee, an employer will need to provide to the employee a written notice containing all of the following information:
Employers need to provide the notice in the language that the employer normally uses for communicating employment-related information to employees. Employees must be notified of any changes to the information provided in the initial notice within seven calendar days after these changes are made. This notice of changes may take the form of an entirely new notice containing all of the information required by Section 2810.5, a notice of only the changed information, or a timely wage statement that reflects the changes.
Recordkeeping
The Act significantly increases employers' recordkeeping obligations. Specifically, Labor Code § 226 requires that employers keep a copy of both an employee's wage statement and a record of deductions, rather than just one or the other, for at least three years. The Act also amends Labor Code § 1174, requiring employers to keep payroll records for each employee for at least three years, instead of two years as previously required.
Increased Penalties and Damages and More Time for the Labor Commissioner to Seek Them
The Act contains numerous provisions that subject employers to significantly increased penalties and damages for noncompliance with various Labor Code provisions, including the following:
Conclusion
Under California's new Wage Theft Prevention Act, employers have additional Labor Code compliance obligations, including the new written notice requirements in Section 2810.5. The Act also significantly increases the damages and penalties available for violations of the Labor Code. Thus, it is important that employers become familiar with the new requirements and take steps now to bring their policies and procedures into immediate compliance.
For more information regarding the topic discussed, please contact any of the following Morgan Lewis attorneys:
Irvine
Carrie A. Gonell
Barbara J. Miller
Los Angeles
John S. Battenfeld
Barbara A. Fitzgerald
Palo Alto
Carol R. Freeman
Daryl S. Landy
San Francisco
Rebecca Eisen
Eric Meckley