Amended  IN  Assembly  March 28, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1002

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel
(Coauthor: (Coauthors: Assembly Member Ahrens) Members Ahrens and Ortega)

February 20, 2025

An act to add Section 7110.6 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions and vocations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1002, as amended, Gabriel. Contractors: failure to pay wages: discipline.
Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board to license and regulate contractors and establishes the Registrar of Contractors registrar of contractors as the executive officer and secretary of the board. Existing law requires the registrar, upon receipt of the Labor Commissioner’s finding of a willful or deliberate violation of the Labor Code by a licensee or transmission to the board of citations or other actions taken by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, to initiate disciplinary action against the licensee within 18 months.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation strengthening remedies against licensed contractors who repeatedly commit labor violations against workers. authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for the temporary suspension or permanent revocation of a contractor’s license for failing to pay its workers the full amount of wages the workers are entitled to under state law or because the contractor has not fulfilled a wage judgment or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding the payment of wages to its workers. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action to bar the licensure or deny the relicensure of any contractor, officer, director, associate, partner, manager, responsible manager, or other qualifying individual of a contractor for those reasons. The bill would require the Attorney General to notify the registrar before bringing a civil action and would authorize the board to intervene in a proceeding brought pursuant to the bill’s provisions. The bill would require a court to issue an order directing the board to suspend a license or bar initial licensure or relicensure if the Attorney General establishes the defendant has failed to pay workers, has not fulfilled a wage judgment, or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding payment of wages.
Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 7110.6 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

7110.6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Attorney General may bring a civil action for the temporary suspension or permanent revocation of a contractor’s license on the basis that the contractor has failed to pay its workers the full amount of wages that the workers are entitled to under state law, or on the basis that the contractor has not fulfilled a wage judgment or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding the payment of wages to its workers.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Attorney General may bring a civil action to bar the licensure, or deny the relicensure, of any contractor, officer, director, associate, partner, manager, responsible manager, or other qualifying individual of a contractor on the basis that the person or entity has failed to pay workers the full amount of wages that the workers are entitled to under state law or on the basis that the person or entity has not fulfilled a wage judgment or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding the payment of wages to its workers.
(c) Prior to bringing a civil action pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the Attorney General shall notify the registrar of contractors at least 30 days prior to filing a civil complaint. The Attorney General’s failure to provide this notice shall not constitute a defense to the action.
(d) The board may intervene in any court proceedings brought pursuant to this section within 60 days of the filing of the initial complaint. After that time, intervention shall be by leave of court upon good cause shown. If the board elects not to intervene, the election shall be deemed consent by the board to comply with any order of the court issued pursuant to subdivision (e) and to be subject to the court’s jurisdiction to enforce the order, if necessary. Nothing in this section shall preclude the board from independently or concurrently proceeding administratively against the contractor’s license and obtaining administrative remedies for any violations not alleged in the Attorney General’s complaint, whether or not the board has intervened. Nothing in this section shall preclude or require the board to investigate a license for violations of this chapter pursuant to Section 7011.7.
(e) In a proceeding under this section, if the Attorney General establishes that a defendant has failed to pay workers the full amount of wages that the workers are entitled to under state law, or that a defendant has not fulfilled a wage judgment or is in violation of an injunction or court order regarding the payment of wages to its workers, the court shall issue an order directing the board to suspend a license or bar an initial licensure or relicensure. The court shall have discretion to determine the duration of any suspension or bar pursuant to the interests of justice. The court may order the Attorney General to provide proof of notice to the board under subdivision (c) before issuing its order.
SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation strengthening remedies against licensed contractors who repeatedly commit labor violations against workers.