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September 15, 2016

Establishing Safe Harbor for the New AB 1513 Piece-Rate Law

AB 1513 introduced new wage and hour requirements for piece-rate workers, fundamentally changing labor costs for many agricultural employers, and leaving some vulnerable to liability for back pay and penalties.

During this transition, the new law offers a conditional “affirmative defense” to claims for damages or statutory penalties based on an employer’s alleged failure to pay compensation for rest periods and other nonproductive time. In other words, you have options — but it’s critical that you thoroughly understand these compliance requirements in order to lower your risk of liability.

Learn How to Protect Yourself from Potential Liability

If you’re a farm employer or labor contractor, and are planning to make payments to current or former employees pursuant to Labor Code Section 226.2(b), please join us for an upcoming AB 1513 safe harbor town hall discussion. You’ll learn important insights from legal experts and fellow employers to help you reduce your risk of liability, and overcome the technical compliance challenges of AB 1513’s safe harbor provisions.

Topics include:

  • Timing of issuing back payments.
  • Required backup documentation.
  • Working with farm labor contractors to perfect safe harbor compliance.
  • Required due diligence for locating eligible workers.
  • Utilizing multiple methods of calculating back payments.
  • Submitting back payments to the labor commissioner’s Unpaid Wage Fund.
  • Dealing with stale checks.

AB 1513 Safe Harbor Town Hall Dates and Locations (click link for location and to register)

Coastal Dates

Salinas – September 28, 2016 @ 1:30PM

Santa Maria – September 29, 2016 @ 9:00AM

Oxnard – September 29, 2016 @ 1:30PM

Central Valley Dates

Selma – October 5, 2016 @ 9:00AM

Bakersfield – October 5, 2016 @ 1:30PM

Complimentary juice, coffee, and fruit will be offered during break services at each event.

For more information about town hall events, contact Bryan Nickerson at (949) 885-2392. For questions about AB 1513, contact Jason Resnick at (949) 885-2253.