AB 332: Employment: agricultural workers.
The bill aims to amend the labor code to make farm labor contractors liable for wages and penalties owed to former employees of their predecessors. It would decrease the time a farm labor contractor must have operated with a valid license to have an affirmative defense to liability, from three years to one year. The bill also expands the definition of an "immediate family member" to include step-parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, half-siblings, and step-grandparents. This expansion would make farm labor contractor successors liable for wages and penalties owed to former employees of their predecessors, even if they are not related by blood. The bill imposes a state-mandated local program, requiring local agencies and school districts to reimburse costs.
| Feb. 02, 2026 | From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| Jan. 31, 2026 | Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. |
| Mar. 17, 2025 | Re-referred to Com. on L. & E. |
| Mar. 13, 2025 | Referred to Com. on L. & E. |
| Mar. 13, 2025 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on L. & E. Read second time and amended. |
| Amended IN Assembly March 13, 2025 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Alanis |
January 28, 2025 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that law.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 1698.9 of the Labor Code is amended to read:1698.9.
A farm labor contractor successor to any predecessor farm labor contractor that owed wages or penalties to a former employee of the predecessor, whether the predecessor was a licensee under this chapter or not, is liable for those wages and penalties, if the successor farm labor contractor meets one or more of the following criteria:SEC. 2.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.(a)For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)“Agricultural employee” means a person employed in any of the following:
(A)An agricultural occupation, as defined in Wage Order No. 14 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(B)An industry preparing agricultural products for the market, on the farm, as defined in Wage Order No. 13 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(C)An industry handling products after harvest, as defined in Wage Order No. 8 of the Industrial Welfare Commission.
(2)“Board” means the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board.
(3)“Wildfire smoke” means emissions from fires in “wildlands,” as defined in Section 3402 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, or in adjacent developed areas.
(b)The division shall review and update the content of the training prescribed in Section 5141.1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, and shall thereafter post it on its internet website.
(c)The training provided by the employer shall be in a language and manner readily understandable by employees, taking into account their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and education levels, including the use of pictograms, as necessary.