California workers, especially those who employed at companies who receive work through subcontracts, will be receiving more protections in the workplace from new legislation that holds businesses liable for labor law violations committed by companies they subcontract work to. Under Assembly Bill 1897, signed by Governor Jerry Brown, companies using subcontractors will now be held responsible when their subcontractors violate wage, workplace safety or workers’ compensation laws.”California workers will finally have wage and workplace protections against companies who rely on subcontractors.
Many times subcontractors skirt around labor law requirements to keep their bids low in order to win contracts against their competitors,” says Grover, a San Francisco employment lawyer. “By failing to provide Workers’ Compensation, putting them in unsafe working environments and failing to follow wage laws, these subcontracting companies can afford to be the ‘lowest bidder’ at the expense of the safety and well-being of their employees.”All are not in favor of the new legislation, as many called the legislation a “job killer,” which would only raise costs and halt California’s prosperity for businesses, the Sacramento Bee reported.
But this isn’t a new enforcement effort for the California Labor Commissioner, Julie A. Su, who has repeatedly gone after contractors and subcontractors who violate wage laws. For example, in September 2013, it was reported that contractors and subcontractors were cited for failing to properly compensate their workers during the construction of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. (http://www.kellergrover.com/ca-labor-commissioner-recovers-8m-for-2000-hilton-construction-workers_9976.html)Worker protection laws in California are already in place for labor violations and should be enforced,” John Kabateck, executive director of the California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, said at a news conference at the Capitol last week. “The only thing this bill is going to do is hurt our state’s economy and jobs.””Obviously the governor disagrees and we concur with his assessment. The more laws protecting workers that are on the books, the better the chance to prevent wage theft and to add money to the local economy,” adds Grover. “When workers are cheated out of their wages they have less money to spend and they usually spend it locally.”