AB2674. Employment records: right to inspect.

Summary

AB 2674, Swanson. Employment records: right to inspect. (1) Existing law requires that every employer, semimonthly or at the time of each payment of wages, furnish to each of his or her employees, either as a detachable part of the check, draft, or voucher paying the employee's wages, or separately when wages are paid by personal check or cash, an accurate itemized statement in writing showing specified items. Existing law requires an employer to keep a copy of the statement and the record of deductions on file for at least 3 years at the place of employment or at a central location within the State of California. This bill would provide that the term "copy," for purposes of these provisions, includes a duplicate of the itemized statement provided to an employee or a computer-generated record that accurately shows all of the information that existing law requires to be included in the itemized statement. (2) Under existing law, an employee has the right to inspect the personnel records that his or her employer maintains relating to the employee's performance or to any grievance concerning the employee. This bill would require an employer to maintain personnel records for a specified period of time and to provide a current or former employee, or his or her representative, an opportunity to inspect and receive a copy of those records within a specified period of time, except during the pendency of a lawsuit filed by the employee or former employer relating to a personnel matter. The bill would provide that an employer is not required to comply with more than 50 requests for a copy of the above-described records filed by a representative or representatives of employees in one calendar month. The bill would provide that the above provisions shall not apply with respect to an employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement provides, among other things, for a procedure for inspection and copying of personnel records. In the event an employer violates these provisions, the bill would permit a current or former employee or the Labor Commissioner to recover a penalty of $750 from the employer, and would further permit a current or former employee to obtain injunctive relief and attorney's fees. Under existing law, an employer who fails to permit an employee to inspect the employee's personnel records is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or imprisonment, as specified. This bill would, instead, provide that a violation of the above provisions requiring that personnel records be made available for inspection constitutes an infraction. Although this bill would change a violation of the above provisions requiring that personnel records be made available for inspection from a misdemeanor to an infraction, by expanding the scope of what would constitute an infraction, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (4) This bill would incorporate changes to Section 226 of the Labor Code proposed by AB 1744 and SB 1255, to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are chaptered and became effective on or before January 1, 2013, and this bill is chaptered last.