Employment: complaints: agricultural employees.

Assembly Member Arambula’s proposal would weave agricultural workers’ complaints into a cross-agency intake and transmission process across California’s labor and workforce development agencies, with the mechanism taking effect only if the Legislature provides funding. The core aim is to have the responsible LWDA entity collaborate with related agencies to transmit a complaint to the appropriate entity for processing and investigation, while safeguarding the complainant’s identity from disclosure to the extent allowed by law without consent.

Key provisions establish a trigger: when an agricultural employee submits a complaint to any LWDA department, division, or board, the transmitting entity must make reasonable efforts to route the matter to the correct entity for handling, provided appropriations are in place. The definition of an “appropriate entity” includes several LWDA-affiliated bodies, such as those focused on labor relations, wage and hour enforcement, occupational safety, and employment development, with room for future additions. “Reasonable efforts” are to be consistent with each entity’s confidentiality requirements, and the transmitting party may not reveal the complainant’s personal information beyond what law permits without consent. The definition of “agricultural employee” references wage-order categories that cover various agricultural occupations and related industries.

From an operational standpoint, the bill envisions a formal cross-agency workflow that would require interagency coordination through plans or agreements, data-sharing protocols, and standardized intake and routing procedures. The operation relies on an appropriation to become operative and does not prescribe deadlines, penalties, or specific processing timelines. Privacy protections are foregrounded, anchored by existing confidentiality rules and reinforced by cross-agency transmission safeguards. Administrative and IT considerations would likely include MOUs, training across ALRB, DIR (including its DLSE and OSHA divisions), and EDD, and potential case-tracking to the extent permitted by confidentiality laws.

The proposal situates itself in a broader policy context of coordinated complaint handling across agencies while preserving confidentiality, with stakeholders including agricultural employees, employers, and the involved agencies. For workers, the aim is to improve routing to the appropriate agency for investigation, subject to funding and administrative implementation. For employers, the measure signals cross-agency visibility without introducing new statutory penalties, since enforcement would continue under each receiving agency’s existing authorities. Because implementation hinges on a future appropriation, the bill’s operative impact remains contingent on the Legislature’s funding decision, with potential costs tied to interagency coordination, training, data-sharing infrastructure, and privacy controls.