A bill (AB.1387) has passed both houses and has been moved to the Governor’s Office, which amends sections of California’s Labor Code and increases the carwash and automatic carwash bond in the state.
The bill increases the carwash employer’s bond requirement from $15,000 to $150,000.
The bond is required by carwash owners, in the event the owner withholds wages or violates the labor law in a way that is financially detrimental to the employee.
Specifically, AB.1387 will:
1)Eliminates the sunset date on existing law regulating the car washing and polishing industry, thereby making it a permanent enforcement program under California law.
2)Increases the surety bond amount required from $15,000 to $150,000.
3)Provides that the surety bond requirements do not apply to an employer covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides for wages, hours of work, working conditions, and an expeditious process to resolve disputes concerning nonpayment of wages.
At the same time, an employer is exempt from that requirement if they have a collective bargaining agreement in place that meets specified criteria, and would delete the existing sunset date for the statute governing carwashes, thus extending those provisions indefinitely.
If you have any questions about automatic carwash systems or carwash equipment, please don’t hesitate to contact us any time.