Cal. LAB § 1697

This is the official text of Cal. LAB § 1697, part of California’s Labor Code — governs wages, workplace safety, and employee rights.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) Any person who violates this chapter, or who causes or induces another to violate this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or both.

(b) Any employee aggrieved by any violation of this chapter, other than acts and conduct also proscribed by Sections 1153, 1154, and 1155, may do all of the following:

(1) Bring a civil action for injunctive relief or damages, or both, against a farm labor contractor or unlicensed farm labor contractor who violates this chapter and, upon prevailing, shall recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, including expert witness fees.

(2) Enforce the liability on the farm labor contractor’s bond.

(c) Any farm labor contractor who engages in farm labor contracting activities after his or her license has been suspended, revoked, or denied reissuance is guilty of an offense punishable by a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment for not less than six months and not more than one year, or both.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in California?

Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.