Bill Text: CA SB628 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Employment: employer contributions: employee withholdings: credit: agricultural employees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-21 - From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23. [SB628 Detail]
Download: California-2025-SB628-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 628
| Introduced by Senator Grove |
February 20, 2025 |
An act to add Division 6.1 (commencing with Section 13200) to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 628, as introduced, Grove.
Employment: employer contributions: employee withholdings: credit: agricultural employees.
The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on taxable income, as provided. Under existing law, every employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, is required to deduct and withhold from those wages, except as provided, for each payroll, a tax computed in an amount substantially equivalent to the amount reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law. Under existing law, every employer required to withhold those taxes is required to, for each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, and a report of wages in a form prescribed by the Employment Development Department, and pay over the taxes required to be withheld.
This bill would authorize an employer to claim a credit in an amount
equal to the amount of overtime wages, as defined, paid during that quarter to specified agricultural employees covered by a certain wage order. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on the employer’s report of contributions, quarterly return, and report of wages, or in an electronic funds transfer, as specified. The bill would prohibit the total amount claimed in any given quarter from exceeding the amount that would have been remitted for that quarter to the Employment Development Department for employee withholdings.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Division 6.1 (commencing with Section 13200) is added to the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read:DIVISION 6.1. Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016 Credit
13200.
(a) An employer whose employees are covered by Wage Order No. 14-2001 of the Industrial Welfare Commission may claim a credit in accordance with this section.(b) (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of the credit shall be equal to the amount of overtime wages paid for that quarter under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 857) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Labor Code to employees who are covered by Wage Order No. 14-2001.
(2) For any employer, the total amount claimed pursuant to paragraph (1) in any given quarter shall not exceed the amount that would have been remitted for that quarter to the Employment Development Department for employee withholdings
pursuant to Division 6 (commencing with Section 13000) but for the operation of this section.
(c) The credit shall be claimed, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, pursuant to either of the following:
(1) On the report of contributions, quarterly return, and report of wages required under Section 1088.
(2) In an electronic funds transfer pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 1110 or Section 13021.
(d) (1) This section does not change the amount of taxes required to be withheld from employees pursuant to Division 6 (commencing with Section 13000) and required to be reported to the employee, the Employment Development Department, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Internal Revenue Service.
(2) This section does not require additional taxes to be paid by the employee or otherwise alter the employee’s tax liability under Part 10 (commencing with Section 17001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that the operation of this section does not require an appropriation of moneys by reducing moneys remitted by the employer to the Employment Development Department that would otherwise be deposited in the General Fund.
(e) The Employment Development Department may adopt rules and regulations that are necessary or appropriate to implement this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Employee” has
the same meaning as that term is used in Sections 3205, 3205.1, 3205.2, and 3205.3 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, as those sections read on January 1, 2023.
(2) “Overtime wages” means the difference between the employees’ overtime rate of pay and their regular rate of pay.
(3) “Quarterly return” means the form on which the employer reports its employer contributions and employee withholdings pursuant to this code.
