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a. Enforcement by City. The Department may take any appropriate enforcement action to ensure compliance, including but not limited to the following:

The Department 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 violated, as specified below:

1. A fine may be assessed for retaliation by a covered employer against an employee for exercising rights protected under this chapter. The fine shall be $1,000 for each employee retaliated against.

2. A fine of $500 may be assessed for any of the following violations of this chapter:

(i) Failure to provide notice of employees’ rights under this chapter.

(ii) Failure to timely provide an initial work schedule or to timely update work schedules following changes.

(iii) Failure to provide predictability pay for schedule changes with less than 24 hours advance notice.

(iv) Failure to offer work to existing employees before hiring new employees or temporary staff or to award work to a qualified employee.

(v) Failure to maintain payroll records for the minimum period of time as provided in this chapter.

(vi) Failure to allow the Department access to payroll records.

3. A fine equal to the total amount of appropriate remedies, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. 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 Department in a prompt manner.

b. City Access. Each covered employer shall permit access to work sites and relevant records for authorized City representatives for the purpose of monitoring compliance with this chapter and investigating employee complaints of noncompliance, including production for inspection and copying of its employment records, but without allowing Social Security numbers to become a matter of public record.

c. 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 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 with a maximum penalty of $1,000 per Employee per year, reinstatement in employment and/or injunctive relief.

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.

d. The remedies for violation of this chapter include but are not limited to:

1. Reinstatement, the payment of predictability pay unlawfully withheld, and the payment of an additional sum as a civil penalty in the amount of $50 to each employee 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 chapter or State law.

2. Interest on all due and unpaid wages at the rate of interest specified in subdivision (b) of Section 3289 of the California Civil Code, which shall accrue from the date that the wages were due and payable as provided in Part 1 (commencing with Section 200) of Division 2 of the California Labor Code, to the date the wages are paid in full.

3. Reimbursement of the City’s administrative costs of enforcement and reasonable attorney’s fees.

4. If a repeated violation of this chapter has been finally determined in a period from July 1 to June 30 of the following year, the Department 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.

e. 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, administrative or judicial, that may be brought to abate a violation or to seek compensation for damages suffered.

f. No criminal penalties shall attach for any violation of this chapter, nor shall this chapter give rise to any cause of action for damages against the City. (Ord. 7846-NS § 1, 2022)