SB 229: Expedited Procedural Requirements For The Administrative Enforcement of Unlawful Retaliation Citations

SB 229: Existing law prohibits a person from discharging or otherwise discriminating, retaliating, or taking any adverse action against any employee or applicant for employment because the employee or applicant engaged in specified protected conduct. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to issue citations to persons determined to be responsible for violations. Existing law authorizes a person issued a citation to obtain review of the citation through various procedures, including requesting a hearing before a hearing officer for the commissioner and through a petition for a writ of mandate. Existing law requires a petitioner seeking a writ of mandate to first post a bond equal to the total amount of any minimum wages, liquidated damages, and overtime compensation. Existing law requires an employer who willfully refuses to comply with a final order pursuant to these provisions to pay prescribed civil penalties directly to the affected employee.

This bill, among other things, would require the commissioner, within 10 days, to file a certified copy of a final citation, with the superior court for judicial enforcement in any county in which the person assessed the penalty has or had property or a place of business, unless the person cited requests an informal hearing to challenge the citation, as specified. The bill would require the clerk of the court to immediately enter judgment for the amount in the citation. The bill would authorize the commissioner to file a petition with the court for an order to show cause why injunctive and nonmonetary relief should not be ordered and to schedule a hearing, as specified. The bill would specify procedures for a person who does not contest the citation to transmit to the office of the Labor Commissioner the amount specified on the citation and to provide certification of compliance to the office that any other remedies ordered have been complied with.