California Assembly Bill AB1398 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1398INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Committee on Labor and Employment (Swanson (Chair), Alejo, Allen, Furutani, and Yamada) FEBRUARY 28, 2011 An act to amend Section 351 of the Labor Code, relating to employment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1398, as introduced, Committee on Labor and Employment. Compensation: gratuities. Existing law prohibits an employer or agent from collecting, taking, or receiving any gratuity or a part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron, or deducting any amount from wages due an employee on account of a gratuity, or requiring an employee to credit the amount, or any part thereof, of a gratuity against and as a part of the wages due the employee from the employer. Existing law declares that every gratuity is the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 351 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 351.  No   An  employer or agent shall  not  collect, take, or receive any gratuity or a part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron, or deduct any amount from wages due an employee on account of a gratuity, or require an employee to credit the amount, or any part thereof, of a gratuity against and as a part of the wages due the employee from the employer. Every gratuity is hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for. An employer that permits patrons to pay gratuities by credit card shall pay the  employees   employee  the full amount of the gratuity that the patron indicated on the credit card slip, without any deductions for any credit card payment processing fees or costs that may be charged to the employer by the credit card company. Payment of gratuities made by patrons using credit cards shall be made to the  employees   employee  not later than the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit card payment.