2014 has just began and various changes to the law came into effect on January 1, 2014. One the more drastic changes to business owners is Assembly Bill 1336.
AB 1336 changes the time to bring a Civil Wage and Penalty Assessment. Under the old statute, there was a six-month limitation to bring a CWPA after a notice of completion was filed. Liability for a CWPA was also valid up to the amount of the funds retained for an additional six months.
Now, the time period to bring a CWPA is 18 months after a notice of completion is filed, or 18 months after acceptance of a public work. Whichever is last!
The statute does not address whether it is retroactive; however, the Labor Commissioner will probably argue the new limitations period extends to existing projects.
Please note that additional changes to the labor statutes include the destruction of particular information on prevailing wage documents; however, the biggest pitfall is the new limitations period mentioned above.