In light of janitors fighting against the sexual harassment that they often experience on the job, California signed a bill into law that establishes workplace protections against sexual harassment and violence for janitorial staff. Signed July 1, 2018, AB 1978, the Property Service Workers Protection Act, aims to address sexual violence where the victims are vastly undocumented female custodians who work in dark, empty buildings at night and fear losing their jobs or deportation if the harassment was to be reported.
What This Means for California Janitorial Companies
The bill requires all California janitorial businesses to register with the Commissioner of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) on a yearly basis. “No employer may conduct any janitorial business without a valid registration.”
According to the Department of Industrial Relations, every employer of a janitorial business must keep detailed records regarding employees for three years.
Janitorial Employee Information Log:
– Names and addresses of all employees engaged in rendering actual services for any business of the employer.
– The hours worked daily by each employee, including the times the employee begins and ends each work period.
– The wage and wage rate paid each payroll period.
– The age of all minor employees.
– Any other conditions of employment.
– The names, addresses, periods of work, and compensation paid to all other covered workers.
Failure to register your cleaning business and employees with DLSE will result in a $500 fine each year of non-compliance. Additional fines may be imposed including a fine of $100 for each calendar day that the business is unregistered with a maximum fine of $10,000. All employees and employers of janitorial businesses must also complete an in-person biennial sexual harassment prevention training program.
The goal of the program is to not only address sexual harassment policies but also to provide resources and inform employees of their right to report workplace violations.
What This Means For Hiring Janitorial Companies
Businesses that contract unregistered and unlicensed janitorial companies are subject to fines up to $25,000!
But how will you know if the janitorial company is registered? The State of California Department of Industrial Relations maintains an online Janitorial Contractor Registry, which is a public database that includes a registration search.
iNX Commercial Cleaning is and will always be AB 1978 compliant. For more information about AB 1978, please visit the California Legislative Information website.
