AB 791

Under current law, an executive branch agency may contract for services if the

services can be performed more economically or efficiently by contract than by a state

employee. This bill generally requires a person who has a contract with the state to

provide services valued at $100,000 or more to pay each full-time employee over age

18 who spends at least one-half of his or her work time performing work under the

contract an hourly wage that is at least equal to the lesser of an hourly wage paid to

a state employee completing similar duties or an "hourly living wage." Under this

bill, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) must calculate the "hourly

living wage" as the quotient of the federal poverty level for a three-person household

and 2080, and must post the most recent hourly living wage on a publicly available

Internet site. The bill provides that a contractor may provide a lower hourly wage

amount if the contractor provides health insurance or contributes to the employee's

deferred compensation plan.

Under this bill, DWD enforces the wage requirement. If DWD receives a

complaint that a contractor has violated the requirement, DWD must investigate the

complaint in a manner similar to how it investigates other alleged wage claims. If

DWD finds that the contractor has paid an employee an amount that is less than the

minimum hourly wage amount, DWD must order the contractor to pay the employee

the amount of his or her unpaid wages and to pay a forfeiture of $20 per day per such

employee and may order the contractor to pay the employee additional liquidated

damages in an amount up to the amount of the unpaid wages. In addition, under

current law, the Department of Administration (DOA) must maintain a list of

persons who have violated laws governing state procurement and the persons on the

list are ineligible for state contracts. Under this bill, a person who is found to have

paid its employees an amount that is less than the minimum hourly wage amount

would be added to that list of ineligible persons.

This bill requires DWD to develop a notice that lists the hourly living wage and

the contact information of DWD and requires a contractor to post the notice in a

conspicuous place for the contractor's employees. A contractor who violates the

posting requirement is subject to a forfeiture of up to $50 per violation.