CWS 3.0: October 10, 2012

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California Law Targets Warehouse Staffing Contracts

A new law in California takes aim at staffing contracts in the warehouse industry. Backers of the law cite difficulties in “Inland Empire” section of the state located east of Los Angeles. The area is known for its concentration of warehouses.

The law, AB 1855, prohibits contracts at warehouses where a contractor knows or should know that there are insufficient funds to comply with basic labor laws such as those that regulate wages, according to the state of California.

Gov. Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr. signed the law late last month.

“AB 1855 will provide warehouse workers in the logistics industry the same protections against labor exploitation as temporary workers in the construction, farm labor, janitorial or security industries when they are hired by temporary staffing agencies,” said state Assembly member Norma Torres, who proposed the bill.

“The warehouse and logistics industry is very important to the Inland Empire,” Torres said. “I have personally visited several warehouse and temporary staffing agencies, and found many that are providing a valuable service to our economy and our region. Unfortunately, there are some companies that are less scrupulous and have been fined for violations of our health, safety and labor laws.”

Last October, a warehouse staffing firm was issued a $499,000 citation for failure to provide itemized wage statements. Another firm received a citation for more than $600,000 last November. (Read more here.)

DC Velocity reports AB 1855 is designed to get tough on warehouse staffing firms but could re-regulate the warehouse industry.