PART 4.2. Property Service Workers Protection [1420. - 1434.]

Cal. Labor Code - LAB 4.2.

in effect

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1420. Section 1420.

For purposes of this part: (a) “Commissioner” means the Labor Commissioner of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement of the department. (b) (1) “Covered worker” means a janitor, including any individual predominantly working, whether as an employee, independent contractor, or franchisee, as a janitor, as that term is defined in the Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations maintained by the United States Department of Labor. (2) “Covered worker” does not include any individual whose work duties are predominantly final cleanup of debris, grounds, and buildings near the completion of a construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work project, including, but not limited to, street cleaners. (c) “Current and valid registration” means an active registration pursuant to this part that is not expired or revoked. (d) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations. (e) “Director” means the Director of Industrial Relations. (f) “Division” means the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. (g) (1) “Employer” means any person or entity that employs at least one covered worker or otherwise engages by contract, subcontract, or franchise agreement for the provision of janitorial services by one or more covered workers. The term “employer” includes the term “covered successor employer,” but does not include an entity that is the recipient of the janitorial services. (2) “Covered successor employer” means an employer who meets one or more of the following criteria: (A) Uses substantially the same equipment, supervisors, and workforce to offer substantially the same services to substantially the same clients as a predecessor employer, unless the employer maintains the same workforce pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 1060) of Part 3. In addition, an employer who has operated with a current and valid registration for at least the preceding three years shall not be considered a covered successor employer for using substantially the same equipment, supervisors, and workforce to substantially the same clients, if all of the following apply: (i) The individuals in the workforce were not referred or supplied for employment by the predecessor employer to the successor employer. (ii) The successor employer has not had any interest in, or connection with, the operation, ownership, management, or control of the business of the predecessor employer within the preceding three years. (B) Shares in the ownership, management, control of the workforce, or interrelations of business operations with the predecessor employer. (C) Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner, officer, licensee, or director of the predecessor employer or of any person who had a financial interest in the predecessor employer. “Immediate family member” means a spouse, parent, sibling, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandson, granddaughter, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or cousin. (h) “Production rates” means the average number of square feet the employee cleaned each hour during their shift, calculated by dividing the cleanable square footage of the property cleaned by the total hours worked to clean that square footage. (i) “Shift” means designated hours of work by an employee, with a designated beginning time and quitting time. (j) “Square footage” means a unit of area equal to a square one foot long on each side. (k) “Supervisor” has the same meaning as in subdivision (t) of Section 12926 of the Government Code.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1421. Section 1421.

Every employer shall keep accurate records for three years, showing all of the following: (a) The names and addresses of all employees engaged in rendering actual services for any business of the employer. (b) The hours worked daily by each employee, including the times the employee begins and ends each work period. (c) The wage and wage rate paid each payroll period. (d) The age of all minor employees. (e) Any other conditions of employment. (f) The names, addresses, periods of work, and compensation paid to all other covered workers.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1422. Section 1422.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall enforce this part. The commissioner may adopt any regulations necessary to carry out this part.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1423. Section 1423.

Effective July 1, 2018, every employer shall register with the commissioner annually.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1424. Section 1424.

When a certificate of current and valid registration is originally issued or renewed under this part, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall provide related and supplemental information to the registrant regarding business administration and applicable labor laws. As of July 1, 2018, employers covered by this part shall provide all covered workers a copy of the Civil Rights Department pamphlet CRD-185, entitled “Sexual Harassment,” until the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement is established pursuant to Section 1429.5.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1425. Section 1425.

Proof of current and valid registration shall be by an official Division of Labor Standards Enforcement registration form. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall issue two types of registrations, one for registrants with employees and one for registrants with no employees.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1426. Section 1426.

At least 60 days prior to the expiration of each registrant’s registration, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall send a renewal notice to the last known address of the registrant. However, omission of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to provide the renewal notice in accordance with this section shall not excuse a registrant from making timely application for renewal of registration, shall not be a defense in any action or proceeding involving failure to renew registration, and shall not subject the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to any legal liability.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1427. Section 1427.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall collect from each employer an initial nonrefundable application fee of five hundred dollars ($500), and an annual fee of five hundred dollars ($500) on the anniversary date of initial application, and may periodically adjust the registration fee in an amount sufficient to fund all direct and indirect costs to administer and enforce this part.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1428. Section 1428.

An employer shall not conduct any janitorial business without complying with the registration requirements of this part. The commissioner may revoke a registration if the commissioner finds an employer to be out of compliance with any requirement of this part or to have failed to satisfy any of the conditions of Section 1429.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1429. Section 1429.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall not approve the registration of any employer until all of the following conditions are satisfied: (a) The employer has executed a written application, in a form prescribed by the commissioner and subscribed and sworn to by the employer, containing all of the following: (1) The name of the business entity and, if applicable, its fictitious or “doing business as” name. (2) The form of the business entity and, if a corporation, all of the following: (A) The date of incorporation. (B) The state in which incorporated. (C) If a foreign corporation, the date the articles of incorporation were filed with the California Secretary of State. (D) Whether the corporation is in good standing with the California Secretary of State. (3) The federal employer identification number (FEIN) and the state employer identification number (SEIN) of the business. (4) The address of the business and the telephone number and, if applicable, the addresses and telephone numbers of any branch locations, and the name of any subcontractor or franchise servicing the contracts. (5) Whether the application is for a new or renewal registration and, if the application is for a renewal, the prior registration number. (6) The names, residential addresses, telephone numbers, and social security or taxpayer identification numbers of the following persons: (A) All corporate officers, if the business entity is a corporation. (B) All persons exercising management responsibility in the applicant’s office, regardless of form of business entity. (C) All persons, except bona fide covered workers on regular salaries, who have a financial interest of 10 percent or more in the business, regardless of the form of business entity, and the actual percent owned by each of those persons. (7) The policy number, effective date, expiration date, and name and address of the carrier of the applicant business’ current workers’ compensation coverage for all applicants who employ one or more employees and are required to secure workers’ compensation insurance under Section 3700. (8) (A) Whether the employer and any persons named in response to subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (6) presently: (i) Owe any unpaid wages. (ii) Have unpaid wage and hour final judgments outstanding or have not fully satisfied the terms of any administrative settlement pursuant to the Civil Rights Department processes or a final judicial decree for any final judgment for a violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. (iii) Have any wage and hour liens or suits pending in court against them or pending California Fair Employment and Housing Act claims. (iv) Owe any unpaid and outstanding payroll taxes, or personal, partnership, or corporate income taxes, Social Security taxes, or disability insurance. (B) An applicant who answers affirmatively to any item described in subparagraph (A) shall provide, as part of the application, additional information on the unpaid amounts, including the name and address of the party owed, the amount owed, and any existing payment arrangements. (9) (A) Whether the employer and any persons named in response to subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (6) have ever been cited or assessed any penalty for violating any provision of this code. (B) An applicant who answers affirmatively to any item described in subparagraph (A) shall provide additional information, as part of the application, on the date, nature of citation, amount of penalties assessed for each citation, and the disposition of the citation, if any. The application shall describe any appeal filed. If the citation was not appealed, or if it was upheld on appeal, the applicant shall state whether the penalty assessment was paid. (10) Effective January 1, 2020, all new applications for registration and renewal of registration shall demonstrate completion of the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirements prescribed by the division and developed pursuant to Section 1429.5 by providing written attestation to the commissioner that the training has been provided as required. Effective January 1, 2022, the attestation shall include whether the training was provided by a peer trainer and an explanation as to why a peer trainer was not used if a peer trainer did not provide the required training. (11) Such other information as the commissioner requires for the administration and enforcement of this part. (b) The employer has paid a registration fee to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement pursuant to Section 1427. (c) Notwithstanding any other law, violation of this section shall not be a crime.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1429.5. Section 1429.5.

(a) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall establish by January 1, 2019, a biennial in-person sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement to be provided by employers governed by this part for nonsupervisory covered workers and supervisors of nonsupervisory covered workers. The training content and qualifications for trainers for supervisory workers shall be consistent with the training requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The training content for nonsupervisors shall also be consistent with the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code and subsequent amendments to those requirements. The qualifications for trainers for nonsupervisors are set forth in this section. The training required under this section shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, as long as the training pursuant to this section meets or exceeds the requirements for training under Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, apart from the aforementioned distinction regarding trainer qualification for nonsupervisory training. (b) To assist in developing these standards, the director shall convene a training advisory committee to recommend requirements for a sexual harassment prevention training program. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Civil Rights Department, and shall also include representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, employers, labor-management groups in the janitorial industry, sexual assault victims advocacy groups, and other related subject matter experts. The director shall convene the training advisory committee by July 1, 2017. The training advisory committee shall consider the requirements of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code when developing the recommended standard. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall propose the requirements for the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement by January 1, 2018. (c) The director shall convene a training advisory committee to assist in compiling a list of qualified organizations that shall provide to employers the qualified peer trainers that employers shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors, as described below. The training advisory committee shall be composed of representatives from a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers, representatives of janitorial workers, janitorial employers, and sexual assault victims advocates. By January 1, 2021, the department shall make available on its internet website the list of qualified organizations that employers shall use to locate a qualified peer trainer in a particular county to provide the required nonsupervisory training. The qualified organization shall provide to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement the name, contact information, and service area of the qualified organization for inclusion on the website. (d) The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall require employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement to provide the training content developed by the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) under the direction of the director, or as amended in the future by the director. (e) (1) Employers covered by this part subject to the biennial training requirement shall use a qualified organization from the list maintained by the director to provide the required training to nonsupervisors. Qualified organizations shall provide qualified peer trainers that employers covered by this part shall use to provide the required training to nonsupervisors. (2) Until January 1, 2026, unless an alternative payment option has been agreed to under a collective bargaining agreement, the employer shall pay the qualified organization as follows: (A) Eighty dollars ($80) per participant for training sessions having 10 or more participants. (B) Two hundred dollars ($200) per participant for training sessions having fewer than 10 participants. (3) On and after January 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, the rates the employer shall pay the qualified organization shall increase by the percentage reflected in the most recent annual average California Price Index Changes - California (All Urban Consumers) report issued by the Department of Industrial Relations. (4) A covered employer shall document compliance with the training requirement by completing and signing a form, to be developed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, certifying that the training was conducted and that the qualified organization was paid in full, and the form shall be produced upon request of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. A covered employer shall also document compliance with the training requirement by ensuring that each participant sign in and sign out on a sign-in sheet, using printed writing and signature, at the commencement and completion of training, in addition to any regulatory documentation retention requirements adopted by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. (f) The training advisory committee shall recommend the qualified organizations to the director. A qualified organization shall be a nonprofit corporation as described in subsection (c) of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States (26 U.S.C. 501(c)), that on its own or through its training partners complies with all of the following: (1) Have and maintain at least 30 qualified peer trainers who are available to provide training to nonsupervisors covered workers as required under this part. (2) Have access to local and regional sexual violence-related trauma services and resources for local referrals documented through letters of acknowledgment from service providers. (3) Be committed to ongoing education and development as documented by a minimum of 10 hours of professional development each year for qualified organization staff and peer trainers in areas of research and strategies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment. (4) Have seven years of demonstrated experience working with employers to provide training to employees both on and off the worksite in the janitorial industry, including seven years demonstrated experience working with immigrant low-wage workers. (g) To be qualified as a peer trainer under this section, a person shall have the training, knowledge, and experience necessary to train nonsupervisory covered workers and shall, at the minimum, have all of the following qualifications: (1) At least a cumulative 40 hours of sexual assault advocate training in the following areas: (A) Survivor-centered and trauma-informed principles and techniques. (B) The long-term effects of sexual trauma and the intersection of discrimination, oppression, and sexual violence. (C) The availability of local, state, and national resources for survivors of sexual violence. (D) Interactive teaching strategies that engage across multiple literacy levels. (E) Conducting discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention training. (F) Responding to sexual harassment complaints or other discrimination complaints. (G) Employer responsibility to conduct investigations of sexual harassment complaints. (H) Advising covered workers regarding discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment prevention. (2) Have two years of nonsupervisory work experience in the janitorial or property service industry. (3) Be culturally competent and fluent in the language or languages that the relevant covered workers understand. (h) The director shall maintain the list of qualified organizations. The list shall be updated by the director with assistance from the training advisory committee at least once every three years. The director may approve qualified organizations on an ongoing basis, if they meet the qualifications required by subdivision (f). The fee per participant may be adjusted by the Labor Commissioner as needed. (i) The training advisory committee shall meet at least once every three years to review and update the list of qualified organizations and qualified peer trainers. (j) A qualified organization may work with a training partner to provide the required training, provided that the qualified organization has entered into a written partnership agreement with the training partner. As used in this subdivision, “training partner” means a nonprofit, worker center, or labor organization with at least two years of demonstrated experience in addressing workplace sexual abuse, immigrants’ rights advocacy, and worker rights advocacy. (k) (1) If the internet website list of qualified organizations that provide peer trainers to employers required to provide training to nonsupervisors under this section indicates there is no qualified peer trainer available to provide training in a specific county, or if none of the qualified trainers are available to meet an employer’s training needs, an employer may use a trainer as prescribed by the Civil Rights Department with respect to sexual harassment training and education to provide training to covered workers working in that specific county. (2) An employer governed by this part shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirement to use a peer trainer to provide the required training if they contracted with a qualified organization that was listed on the department’s internet website at the time of the training.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1429.6. Section 1429.6.

(a) The department shall contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center to conduct a study evaluating opportunities to improve worker safety and safeguard employment rights in the janitorial industry. The University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center may subcontract, in whole or in part, the responsibility for conducting the study to another University of California Labor Center; the Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Francisco, Division of Occupational, Environmental, and Climate Medicine; the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences; or the California Center of Occupational and Environmental Health. (b) The entity or entities with which a contract or subcontract is entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) shall conduct the study in the manner described in this section. No later than May 1, 2026, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center and its subcontractors, if any, shall issue a report that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following: (1) Typical production rates in the janitorial industry based on cleaning frequency and the type of public and private sector facility being cleaned. The information shall be derived, in part and where available, from janitorial service contracts pertaining to the largest state and local government facilities, public university and community college facilities, and the largest commercial real estate and high-tech and biotech facilities in the following counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. The names of the contracting entity and the janitorial contractor may be omitted in the report. (2) Production rates before, during, and after the COVID-19 public health emergency. (3) Assessment of the risk of ergonomic and other injuries associated with cleaning frequencies and production rates. (4) Analysis of California workers’ compensation data in the janitorial industry showing types of injury, frequency of reporting, and cost of treatment over the last 10 years. (5) The prevalence of wage theft in the janitorial industry and how it impacts production rates and worker recruitment and retention. (6) Whether production rates and the prevalence of wage theft differ between employers that are signatories to collective bargaining agreements and those that are not. (7) The impacts of gender, race, national origin, disability, and age on production rates and compliance with labor laws. (c) No later than June 15, 2025, the department shall convene an advisory committee comprised of representatives from the department, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, the Civil Rights Department, a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent that represents janitorial workers throughout the state, employers and labor management groups in the janitorial industry, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center, and other relevant subject matter experts to make recommendations regarding the scope of the study required pursuant to subdivision (b). (d) If the advisory committee does not issue recommendations regarding the scope of the study by August 15, 2025, the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center and its subcontractors, if any, shall complete the study pursuant to the factors listed in subdivision (b) in a manner that best fulfills the purposes of this section. (e) On or before May 15, 2026, the department shall forward the completed report described in subdivision (b) to the members of the advisory committee and the Chairs of the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. (f) In conducting the study required pursuant to subdivision (b), the University of California, Los Angeles and any subcontractors shall consider and be guided by the recommendations of the advisory committee, if any, only so long as the recommendations would not substantially increase the cost of the study or cause the report to be issued after the required submission date pursuant to subdivision (b). (g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1430. Section 1430.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement shall not register or renew the registration of an employer in any of the following circumstances: (a) The employer has not fully satisfied any final judgment for unpaid wages due to an employee or former employee of a business for which the employer is required to register under this chapter. (b) The employer has failed to remit the proper amount of contributions required by the Unemployment Insurance Code or the Employment Development Department has made an assessment for those unpaid contributions against the employer that has become final and the employer has not fully paid the amount of delinquency for those unpaid contributions. (c) The employer has failed to remit the amount of Social Security and Medicare tax contributions required by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) to the Internal Revenue Service and the employer has not fully paid the amount or delinquency for those unpaid contributions. (d) The employer has not fully satisfied the terms of any administrative settlement pursuant to the Civil Rights Department processes or a final judicial decree agreed upon with an employee or former employee of a business for which the employer is required to register under this part for any final judgment for a violation of Section 12940 of the Government Code. (e) The employer has not fully satisfied any final judgment for failing to secure valid workers’ compensation coverage as required by Section 3700.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1431. Section 1431.

The commissioner shall maintain a public database of property service employers, on the internet website of the department, including the name, address, registration number, whether the registrant is a nonemployee registrant exempt from the requirement to secure workers’ compensation coverage under Section 3700 of the Labor Code, and effective dates of registration.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1432. Section 1432.

(a) An employer who fails to register pursuant to Section 1423 is subject to a civil fine of one hundred dollars ($100) for each calendar day that the employer is unregistered, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000). (b) Any person or entity that contracts with an employer who lacks a current and valid registration, as displayed on the online registration database at the time the contract is executed, extended, renewed, or modified, under this part on the date the person or entity enters into or renews a contract or subcontract for janitorial services with the employer is subject to a civil fine of not less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the case of a first violation, and a civil fine of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for a subsequent violation. (c) An employer who makes a material misrepresentation in connection with an initial or renewal application is subject to a civil fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the authority to enforce this section is vested exclusively with the commissioner. The procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations or civil penalties issued by the commissioner shall be the same as those set forth in Section 1197.1.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1433. Section 1433.

(a) All registration fees collected pursuant to Section 1427, all civil fines collected pursuant to Section 1432, and any other moneys as are designated by statute or order shall be deposited in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund. (b) Moneys deposited in the fund pursuant to Sections 1427 and 1432 shall be used only for the following purposes: (1) The reasonable costs of administering the registration of janitorial contractors pursuant to this part by the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement. (2) The costs and obligations associated with the administration and enforcement of this part by the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement. (c) The annual employer registration renewal fee specified in of Section 1427, and any adjusted application renewal fee, shall be set in amounts that are sufficient to support the direct costs and a reasonable percentage attributable to the indirect costs of the division for administering this part.

Cal. Labor Code - LAB § 1434. Section 1434.

A successor employer is liable for any wages, damages, and penalties its predecessor employer owes to any of the predecessor employer’s former workforce if the successor employer meets any of the following criteria: (a) Uses substantially the same workforce to offer substantially the same services as the predecessor employer. This factor does not apply to employers who maintain the same workforce pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 1060) of Part 3. (b) Shares in the ownership, management, control of the labor relations, or interrelations of business operations with the predecessor employer. (c) Employs in a managerial capacity any person who directly or indirectly controlled the wages, hours, or working conditions of the affected workforce of the predecessor employer. (d) Is an immediate family member of any owner, partner, officer, or director of the predecessor employer of any person who had a financial interest in the predecessor employer.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026