Are you providing “janitorial services” in California? If yes, you have to register with California’s Labor Commissioner by October 1, 2018. Also, starting in January 2019, you will be required to provide your employees with in-person sexual harassment prevention training every two years.
California’s Property Service Workers Protection Act requires that “any person or entity that employs at least one employee and one or more covered workers and that enters into contracts, subcontracts, or franchise arrangements to provide janitorial services” must:
register with the state;
pay an annual $500 fee;
provide detailed information about unpaid taxes, unpaid judgments, wages owed, liens and suits pending, Labor Code penalties previously assessed, workers’ compensation insurance, and more; and
maintain accurate records for at least three years reflecting names and addresses of all employees who perform janitorial or cleaning services, their wages, and “conditions of employment” including, among other things, “the times the employee begins and ends each work period.”
beginning July 1, 2018, employers “shall provide all covered workers a copy of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing pamphlet DFEH-185, titled ‘Sexual Harassment,’ until the sexual violence and harassment prevention training requirement” has been established by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement of California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DLSE).
The definition of “covered workers” refers to the U.S. Department of Labor’s definition of “janitor.”
Failure to comply may result in $10,000 for the first violation and $25,000 for a subsequent violation. The demand side of the equation is also subject to penalties:, “[a]ny person or entity that contracts for janitorial services with an employer not registered at the time the contract is executed, extended, renewed, or modified, is subject to a civil fine of $2,000 to $10,000 in the case of a first violation, and a civil fine of $10,000 to $25,000 for a subsequent violation.”