1684
. (a) The Labor Commissioner shall not issue to any person a
license to act as a farm labor contractor, nor shall the Labor
Commissioner renew that license, until all of the following
conditions are satisfied:
(1) The person has executed a written application in a form
prescribed by the Labor Commissioner, subscribed and sworn to by the
person, and containing all of the following:
(A) A statement by the person of all facts required by the Labor
Commissioner concerning the applicant's character, competency,
responsibility, and the manner and method by which the person
proposes to conduct operations as a farm labor contractor if the
license is issued.
(B) The names and addresses of all persons, except bona fide
employees on stated salaries, financially interested, either as
partners, associates, or profit sharers, in the proposed operation as
a farm labor contractor, together with the amount of their
respective interests.
(C) A declaration consenting to the designation by a court of the
Labor Commissioner as an agent available to accept service of summons
in any action against the licensee if the licensee has left the
jurisdiction in which the action is commenced or otherwise has become
unavailable to accept service.
(D) The names and addresses of all persons who in the previous
calendar year performed any services described in subdivision (b) of
Section 1682 within the scope of his or her employment by the
licensee on whose behalf he or she was acting, unless the person was
employed as an independent contractor.
(2) The Labor Commissioner, after investigation, is satisfied as
to the character, competency, and responsibility of the person.
(3) (A) The person has deposited with the Labor Commissioner a
surety bond in an amount based on the size of the person's annual
payroll for all employees, as follows:
(i) For payrolls up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), a
twenty-five-thousand-dollar ($25,000) bond.
(ii) For payrolls of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to
two million dollars ($2,000,000), a fifty-thousand-dollar ($50,000)
bond.
(iii) For payrolls greater than two million dollars ($2,000,000),
a seventy-five-thousand-dollar ($75,000) bond.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the Labor Commissioner shall
require documentation of the size of the person's annual payroll
which may include, but is not limited to, information provided by the
person to the Employment Development Department, the Franchise Tax
Board, the Division of Workers' Compensation, the insurer providing
the licensee's workers' compensation insurance, or the Internal
Revenue Service.
(C) If the contractor has been the subject of a final judgment in
a year in an amount equal to or greater than the amount of the bond
required, he or she shall be required to deposit an additional bond
within 60 days.
(D) All bonds required under this chapter shall be payable to the
people of the State of California and shall be conditioned upon the
farm labor contractor's compliance with all the terms and provisions
of this chapter and subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940 of, and
Sections 12950 and 12950.1 of, the Government Code, and payment of
all damages occasioned to any person by failure to do so, or by any
violation of this chapter or of subdivision (j) or (k) of Section
12940 of, or of Section 12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code, or
any violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public
Law 88-352), or false statements or misrepresentations made in the
procurement of the license. The bond shall also be payable for
interest on wages and for any damages arising from violation of
orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, and for any other
monetary relief awarded to an agricultural worker as a result of a
violation of this code or of subdivision (j) or (k) of Section 12940
of, or Section 12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code, or any
violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law
88-352).
(4) The person has paid to the Labor Commissioner a license fee of
five hundred dollars ($500) plus a filing fee of ten dollars ($10).
However, when a timely application for renewal is filed, the
ten-dollar ($10) filing fee is not required. The license fee shall
increase by one hundred dollars ($100), to six hundred dollars
($600), on January 1, 2015. The amount attributable to this increase
shall be expended by the Labor Commissioner to fund the Farm Labor
Contractor Enforcement Unit and the Farm Labor Contractor License
Verification Unit. Notwithstanding Section 1698, no portion of that
increase shall be credited to the General Fund. The Labor
Commissioner shall deposit one hundred fifty dollars ($150) of each
licensee's annual license fee into the Farmworker Remedial Account.
Funds from this account shall be disbursed by the Labor Commissioner
only to persons determined by the Labor Commissioner to have been
damaged by any licensee if the damage exceeds the amount of the
licensee's bond or the surety fails to pay the full amount of the
licensee's bond, or to persons determined by the Labor Commissioner
to have been damaged by an unlicensed farm labor contractor. In
making these determinations, the Labor Commissioner shall disburse
funds from the Farmworker Remedial Account to satisfy claims against
farm labor contractors or unlicensed farm labor contractors, which
shall also include interest on wages and any damages arising from the
violation of orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission, for any
other monetary relief awarded to an agricultural worker as a result
of a violation of this code, and for all damages arising from any
violation of subdivision (j) or (k) of Section 12940 of, or of
Section 12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code, or any violation of
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352). The
Labor Commissioner may disburse funds from the Farmworker Remedial
Account to farm labor contractors, for payment of farmworkers, when a
contractor is unable to pay farmworkers due to the failure of a
grower or packer to pay the contractor. Any disbursed funds
subsequently recovered by the Labor Commissioner pursuant to Section
1693, or otherwise, shall be returned to the Farmworker Remedial
Account.
(5) The person has taken a written examination that demonstrates
an essential degree of knowledge of the current laws and
administrative regulations concerning farm labor contractors as the
Labor Commissioner deems necessary for the safety and protection of
farmers, farmworkers, and the public, including the identification
and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. To successfully
complete the examinations, the person must correctly answer at least
85 percent of the questions posed. The examination period shall not
exceed four hours. The examination may only be taken a maximum of
three times in a calendar year. The examinations shall include a
demonstration of knowledge of the current laws and regulations
regarding wages, hours, and working conditions, penalties, employee
housing and transportation, collective bargaining, field sanitation,
and safe work practices related to pesticide use, including all of
the following subjects:
(A) Field reentry regulations.
(B) Worker pesticide safety training.
(C) Employer responsibility for safe working conditions.
(D) Symptoms and appropriate treatment of pesticide poisoning.
(6) The person has registered as a farm labor contractor pursuant
to the federal Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection
Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 1801 et seq.), when registration is required
pursuant to federal law, and that information is provided by the
person to the Labor Commissioner.
(7) Each of the person's employees has registered as a farm labor
contractor employee pursuant to the federal Migrant and Seasonal
Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 1801 et seq.) if
that registration is required pursuant to federal law, and that
information is provided by the person to the Labor Commissioner.
(8) (A) The person has executed a written statement, that has been
provided to the Labor Commissioner, attesting that the person's
supervisorial employees, including any supervisor, crewleader,
mayordomo, foreperson, or other employee whose duties include the
supervision, direction, or control of agricultural employees, have
been trained at least once for at least two hours each calendar year
in the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, and that all
new nonsupervisorial employees, including agricultural employees,
have been trained at the time of hire, and that all nonsupervisorial
employees, including agricultural employees, have been trained at
least once every two years in identifying, preventing, and reporting
sexual harassment in the workplace.
(B) Sexual harassment prevention training shall consist of
training administered by a licensee or appropriate designee of the
licensee.
(C) Sexual harassment prevention training shall include, at a
minimum, components of the following as consistent with Section 12950
of the Government Code:
(i) The illegality of sexual harassment.
(ii) The definition of sexual harassment under applicable state
and federal law.
(iii) A description of sexual harassment, utilizing examples.
(iv) The internal complaint process of the employer available to
the employee.
(v) The legal remedies and complaint process available through the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
(vi) Directions for how to contact the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing.
(vii) The protection against retaliation provided under current
law.
(D) The trainer may use the text of the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing's pamphlet DFEH-185, "Sexual Harassment" as a
guide to training, or may use other written material or other
training resources covering the information required in subparagraph
(C).
(E) At the conclusion of the training, the trainer shall provide
the employee with a copy of the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing's pamphlet DFEH-185, and a record of the training on a form
provided by the Labor Commissioner that includes the name of the
trainer and the date of the training.
(F) The licensee shall keep a record with the names of all
employees who have received sexual harassment training for a period
of three years.
(b) The Labor Commissioner shall consult with the Director of
Pesticide Regulation, the Department of the California Highway
Patrol, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the
Employment Development Department, the Department of Fair Employment
and Housing, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department
of Motor Vehicles, and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
in preparing the examination required by paragraph (5) of
subdivision (a) and the appropriate educational materials pertaining
to the matters included in the examination, and may charge a fee of
not more than two hundred dollars ($200) to cover the cost of
administration of the examination.
(c) The person shall also enroll and participate in at least nine
hours of relevant educational classes each year. The classes shall
include at least one hour of sexual harassment prevention training.
The classes shall be chosen from a list of approved classes prepared
by the Labor Commissioner, in consultation with the persons and
entities listed in subdivision (b) and county agricultural
commissioners.
(d) The Labor Commissioner may renew a license without requiring
the applicant for renewal to take the examination specified in
paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) if the Labor Commissioner finds that
the applicant meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Has satisfactorily completed the examination during the
immediately preceding two years.
(2) Has not during the preceding year been found to be in
violation of any applicable laws or regulations including, but not
limited to, Division 7 (commencing with Section 12501) of the Food
and Agricultural Code, subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940 of,
and Section 12950 or 12950.1 of, the Government Code, Part 1
(commencing with Section 17000) of Division 13 of the Health and
Safety Code, Division 2 (commencing with Section 200), Division 4
(commencing with Section 3200), and Division 5 (commencing with
Section 6300) of this code, and Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
12500) of Division 6 of the Vehicle Code.
(3) Has, for each year since the license was obtained, enrolled
and participated in at least eight hours of relevant, educational
classes, chosen from a list of approved classes prepared by the Labor
Commissioner.
(4) Has complied with all other requirements of this section.