Employment: nonpayment of wages: complaints.

Assembly Member Ortega's wage enforcement legislation revises California's process for investigating and resolving employee wage complaints through comprehensive amendments to the Labor Code's hearing and appeals procedures. The bill establishes strict timelines for the Labor Commissioner to notify parties of complaints, conduct investigations, and issue determinations while creating new requirements for employer responses and documentation.

The legislation institutes a 30% administrative fee on wage orders and decisions, funding a new Wage Recovery Fund to support workers harmed by nonpayment of wages. Employers may request fee waivers if they have no prior wage violations or settlements within the past decade and the current order does not include waiting time penalties. The fund will disburse payments based on Labor Commissioner procedures, with recovered amounts from liable parties returning to the fund.

The measure modifies the appeals process by classifying wage claim appeals as unlimited civil cases and requiring employers to post bond or cash deposits equal to the awarded amount before filing appeals. Courts hearing these cases gain jurisdiction over all related wage claims, even those not initially raised with the Labor Commissioner, but cannot consolidate unrelated actions without written agreement from all parties. The bill maintains existing provisions for judgment enforcement through liens, asset identification, and priority execution while adding new specifications for serving notices and maintaining current contact information.