13.100.080 Implementation and Enforcement.
A. The City shall be authorized to coordinate implementation and enforcement of this Chapter and may promulgate appropriate guidelines or rules for such purposes. Any guidelines or rules promulgated by the Agency shall have the force and effect of law and may be relied on by employers, employees, and other persons to determine their rights and responsibilities under this Chapter. Any guidelines or rules may establish procedures for ensuring fair, efficient, and cost-effective implementation of this Chapter, including supplementary procedures for helping to inform employees of their rights under this Chapter, for monitoring employer compliance with this Chapter, and for providing administrative hearings to determine whether an employer or other person has violated the requirements of this Chapter.
B. Where prompt compliance is not forthcoming, the City shall take any appropriate enforcement action to secure compliance, including but not limited to the following:
1. The City may issue an Administrative Citation pursuant to Chapter 1.28 of the Berkeley Municipal Code. The amount of this fine shall vary based on the provision of this Chapter being violated, as specified below:
(a) A fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) may be assessed for retaliation by an Employer against an Employee for exercising rights protected under this Chapter for each Employee retaliated against.
b. A fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) may be assessed for any of the following violations of this Chapter:
i. Failure to post notice of the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance
ii. Failure to provide notice of investigation to Employees
iii. Failure to post notice of violation to public
iv. Failure to maintain payroll records documenting accrual of Paid Sick Leave for four years; and
v. Failure to allow the City access to payroll records
(c) A fine equal to the total amount of appropriate remedies, pursuant to subdivision B. Any and all money collected in this way that is the rightful property of an Employee, such as back wages, interest, and civil penalty payments, shall be disbursed by the City in a prompt manner.
2. The City may initiate a civil action for injunctive relief and damages and civil penalties in a court of competent jurisdiction.
C. The City or any person aggrieved by a violation of this Chapter, any entity a member of which is aggrieved by a violation of this Chapter, or any other person or entity acting on behalf of the employee and all other employees affected by the employer’s violations or on behalf of the public as provided for under applicable state law, may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against the Employer or other person violating this Chapter and, upon prevailing, shall be awarded reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs and shall be entitled to such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to remedy the violation including, without limitation, the payment of any back wages unlawfully withheld, the payment of an additional sum as a civil penalty in the amount of $50 to each Employee or person whose rights under this Chapter were violated for each day that the violation occurred or continued, reinstatement in employment and/or injunctive relief. Provided, however, that any person or entity enforcing this Chapter on behalf of the public as provided for under applicable state law shall, upon prevailing, be entitled only to equitable, injunctive or restitutionary relief to Employees, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
D. This Section shall not be construed to limit an Employee’s right to bring legal action for a violation of any other laws concerning wages, hours, or other standards or rights nor shall exhaustion of remedies under this Chapter be a prerequisite to the assertion of any right.
E. Except where prohibited by state or federal law, City agencies or departments may revoke or suspend any registration certificates, permits or licenses held or requested by the Employer until such time as the violation is remedied. The City shall not renew any such license of an Employer with outstanding violations, as finally determined under this Chapter, until such time as the violation is remedied.
F. The remedies for violation of this Chapter include but are not limited to:
1. The issuance of Paid Sick Leave time unlawfully withheld.
2. Reimbursement of the City’s administrative costs of enforcement and reasonable attorney’s fees.
3. If a repeated violation of this Chapter has been finally determined, the City may require the Employer to pay an additional sum as a civil penalty in the amount of $50 to the City for each Employee or person whose rights under this Chapter were violated for each day or portion thereof that the violation occurred or continued, and fines imposed pursuant to other provisions of this Code or state law.
G. The remedies, penalties and procedures provided under this Chapter are cumulative and are not intended to be exclusive of any other available remedies, penalties and procedures established by law which may be pursued to address violations of this Chapter. Actions taken pursuant to this Chapter shall not prejudice or adversely affect any other action, civil or criminal, that may be brought to abate a violation or to seek compensation for damages suffered. (Ord. 7505-NS § 2 (part), 2016)