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Measure AB 538
Authors Berman  
Subject Public works: payroll records.
Relating To relating to public works.
Title An act to amend Section 1776 of the Labor Code, relating to public works.
Last Action Dt 2025-10-11
State Chaptered
Status Chaptered
Active? Y
Vote Required Majority
Appropriation No
Fiscal Committee Yes
Local Program Yes
Substantive Changes None
Urgency No
Tax Levy No
Leginfo Link Bill
Actions
2025-10-11     Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 616, Statutes of 2025.
2025-10-11     Approved by the Governor.
2025-09-22     Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2025-09-10     In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.
2025-09-10     Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 9. Page 2807.).
2025-08-29     Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-08-29     From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 29).
2025-07-07     In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.
2025-06-25     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-06-18     Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.
2025-06-04     In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
2025-06-03     Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 65. Noes 3. Page 2006.)
2025-05-27     Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-05-23     Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
2025-05-23     From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 23).
2025-05-23     Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 51. Noes 16. Page 1644.)
2025-04-23     In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
2025-03-19     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (March 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-02-24     Referred to Com. on L. & E.
2025-02-12     From printer. May be heard in committee March 14.
2025-02-11     Read first time. To print.
Keywords
Tags
Versions
Chaptered     2025-10-11
Enrolled     2025-09-12
Amended Assembly     2025-05-23
Introduced     2025-02-11
Last Version Text
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		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Berman</ns0:AuthorText>
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		<ns0:Title> An act to amend Section 1776 of the Labor Code, relating to public works. </ns0:Title>
		<ns0:RelatingClause>public works</ns0:RelatingClause>
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			<ns0:Subject>Public works: payroll records.</ns0:Subject>
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			<html:p>Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to investigate allegations that a contractor or subcontractor violated the law regulating public works projects, including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Existing law requires certified copies of records to be available upon request by the public and sets forth a process for the public to request the records either through the awarding body or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Existing law makes any contractor,
			 subcontractor, agent, or representative who neglects to comply with the requirements to keep accurate payroll records guilty of a misdemeanor.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would require the awarding body, if a request is made by the public through the awarding body and the body is not in possession of the certified records, to obtain those records from the relevant contractor and make them available to the requesting entity. The bill would authorize the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to enforce certain penalties if a contractor fails to comply with the awarding body’s request within 10 days of receipt of the notice. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program.</html:p>
			<html:p>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.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.</html:p>
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		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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			<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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				Section 1776 of the 
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				 is amended to read:
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								(a)
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								Each contractor and subcontractor shall keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Each payroll record shall contain or be verified by a written declaration that it is made under penalty of perjury, stating both of the following:
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								(1)
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								The information contained in the payroll record is true and correct.
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								(2)
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								The employer has complied with
						the requirements of Sections 1771, 1811, and 1815 for any work performed by that person’s employees on the public works project.
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								(b)
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								The payroll records enumerated under subdivision (a) shall be certified and shall be available for inspection at all reasonable hours at the principal office of the contractor on the following basis:
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								(1)
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								A certified copy of an employee’s payroll record shall be made available for inspection or furnished to the employee or the employee’s authorized representative on request.
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								(2)
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								A certified copy of all payroll records enumerated in subdivision (a) shall be made available for inspection or furnished upon request to a representative of the body awarding the contract and the Division
						of Labor Standards Enforcement of the Department of Industrial Relations.
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								(3)
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								A certified copy of all payroll records enumerated in subdivision (a) shall be made available upon request by the public for inspection or for copies thereof. However, a request by the public shall be made through either the body awarding the contract or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. If the request is made through the awarding body and the body is not in possession of the certified payroll records, the awarding body shall obtain those records from the relevant contractor and make them available to the requesting entity. If the requested payroll records have not been provided
						pursuant to paragraph (2), the requesting party shall, prior to being provided the records, reimburse the costs of preparation by the contractor, subcontractors, and the entity through which the request was made. The public may not be given access to the records at the principal office of the contractor.
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								(4)
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								If an awarding body seeks to obtain payroll records pursuant to paragraph (3), the contractor shall have 10 days to comply following receipt of a written notice requesting the records described in subdivision (a). If the contractor or subcontractor fails to comply within the 10-day period, the awarding body shall notify the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement who may
						request penalties be withheld from progress payments then due as described in subdivision (h).
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								(c)
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								Unless required to be furnished directly to the Labor Commissioner in accordance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1771.4, the certified payroll records shall be on forms provided by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement or shall contain the same information as the forms provided by the division. The payroll records may consist of printouts of payroll data that are maintained as computer records, if the printouts
						contain the same information as the forms provided by the division and the printouts are verified in the manner specified in subdivision (a).
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								(d)
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								A contractor or subcontractor shall file a certified copy of the records enumerated in subdivision (a) with the entity that requested the records within 10 days after receipt of a written request.
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								(e)
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								(1)
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								Except as provided in subdivision (f), any copy of records made available for inspection as copies and furnished upon request to the public or any public agency by the awarding body or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall be marked or obliterated to prevent disclosure of an individual’s name, address, and social security number. The name and address of the contractor awarded the
						contract or the subcontractor performing the contract shall not be marked or obliterated. Any copy of records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a multiemployer Taft-Hartley trust fund (29 U.S.C. Sec. 186(c)(5)) that requests the records for the purposes of allocating contributions to participants shall be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s full social security number, but shall provide the last four digits of the social security number. Any copy of records made available for inspection by, or furnished to, a joint labor-management committee established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 175a) shall be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual’s social security number.
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								(2)
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								Copies of electronic certified payroll records shall
						not satisfy payroll records requests made by Taft-Hartley trust funds and joint labor-management committees. Any copy of records requested by, and made available for inspection by or furnished to, a Taft-Hartley trust fund or joint labor-management committee shall be on forms provided by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement or shall contain the same information as the forms provided by the division.
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								(f)
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								(1)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								Notwithstanding any other provision of law, agencies that are included in the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy established pursuant to Section 329 of the Unemployment Insurance Code and other law enforcement agencies investigating violations of law shall, upon request, be provided nonredacted copies of certified payroll records. Any copies of records or certified payroll made
						available for inspection and furnished upon request to the public by an agency included in the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy or to a law enforcement agency investigating a violation of law shall be marked or redacted to prevent disclosure of an individual’s name, address, and social security number.
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								(2)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								An employer shall not be liable for damages in a civil action for any reasonable act or omission taken in good faith in compliance with this subdivision.
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								(g)
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								The contractor shall inform the body awarding the contract of the location of the records enumerated under subdivision (a), including the street address, city, and county, and shall, within five working days, provide a notice of a change of location and address.
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								(h)
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								The contractor or subcontractor has 10 days in which to comply subsequent to receipt of a written notice requesting the records enumerated in subdivision (a). In the event that the contractor or subcontractor fails to comply within the 10-day period, the contractor or subcontractor shall, as a penalty to the state or political subdivision on whose behalf the contract is made or awarded, forfeit one hundred dollars ($100) for each calendar day, or portion thereof, for each worker, until strict compliance is effectuated. Upon the request of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, these penalties shall be withheld from progress payments then due. A contractor is not subject to a penalty assessment pursuant to this section due to the failure of a subcontractor to comply with this section.
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								(i)
								<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
								The body awarding the contract
						shall cause to be inserted in the contract stipulations to effectuate this section.
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								(j)
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								The director shall adopt rules consistent with the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code) and the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Title 1.8 (commencing with Section 1798) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code) governing the release of these records, including the establishment of reasonable fees to be charged for reproducing copies of records required by this section.
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					No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII
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					B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
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					B of the California Constitution.
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Last Version Text Digest Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to investigate allegations that a contractor or subcontractor violated the law regulating public works projects, including the payment of prevailing wages. Existing law requires each contractor and subcontractor on a public works project to keep accurate payroll records, showing the name, address, social security number, work classification, straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week, and the actual per diem wages paid to each journeyman, apprentice, worker, or other employee employed by the contractor or subcontractor in connection with the public work. Existing law requires certified copies of records to be available upon request by the public and sets forth a process for the public to request the records either through the awarding body or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Existing law makes any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative who neglects to comply with the requirements to keep accurate payroll records guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the awarding body, if a request is made by the public through the awarding body and the body is not in possession of the certified records, to obtain those records from the relevant contractor and make them available to the requesting entity. The bill would authorize the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to enforce certain penalties if a contractor fails to comply with the awarding body’s request within 10 days of receipt of the notice. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on any contractor, subcontractor, agent, or representative, the bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program.