CALIFORNIA—On June 18, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that an anti-labor trafficking bill, AB 1583, which it and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office sponsored cleared both the California State Assembly and the California State Senate, the two houses of the legislature.
The vote on the bill was 38-0, reflecting bipartisan support among Republicans and Democrats. The main author of the bill was Assembly Member Chris Roberts.
AB 1583 is intended to address both labor trafficking, a form of human trafficking in which a victim is forced by the perpetrator, using force, coercion, or fraud, to perform a specific task, and wage theft, in which an employer denies a worker their wages or benefits, across multiple jurisdictions. This prevents prosecutors from bringing those responsible to trial.
The bill aims to resolve that issue by enabling the LA District Attorney’s Office to prosecute labor trafficking and wage theft when either occurs through a labor or employment agreement in California. It also applies if the accused company was based in the state or if some of the work occurred there.
Under AB 1583, Section 786.6 is incorporated into the California Penal Code. If a defendant commits multiple labor trafficking or wage theft offenses, or if the same offense occurs across different jurisdictions within California, the case can be filed in any of those jurisdictions. This also extends to offenses that are linked or related.
AB 1583 is being sent to the office of Governor Gavin Newsom for his consideration.
