New CA Law Requires Notices To Be Posted in Massage and Bodywork Establishments which are not CAMTC-Certified

As anticipated, Senate Bill 1193 was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 24, 2012. Under the new law, certain types of businesses in California, including establishments offering massage or bodywork services for compensation, must “conspicuously” post a written human trafficking notice which includes contact information for two human trafficking hotlines. However, massage establishments that use or employ only massage therapists who are certified by the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) are exempt from the notice posting requirement. As a result,

• If you practice massage or bodywork in California and you do not have any other massage therapists or bodyworkers as employees, then you must post the human trafficking notice in the place where you practice, unless you are CAMTC-certified. If you are CAMTC-certified, then you do not have to post the notice.
• If you employ others as massage therapists or bodyworkers, then you must post the human trafficking notice in your place of business unless you and all of the therapists/bodyworkers you employ are CAMTC-certified. If you and all of your therapist/bodyworker employees are CAMTC-certified, then you do not have to post the notice. If some, but not all, of your employees are CAMTC-certified, then you still must post the notice.

Any establishment which is required to post the notice but fails to do so is subject to a $500 penalty for the first offense and a $1000 penalty for each subsequent offense. The notice must be at least 8 ½ inches by 11 inches in size, and written in 16-point font. It must be posted near the public entrance to your business or in another location which is within view of the public and employees. The text of the notice must state: If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave – whether it is commercial sex, housework, farm work, construction, factory, retail, or restaurant work, or any other activity – call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or the California Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) at 1-888-KEY-2-FRE(EDOM) or 1-888-539-2373 to access help and services. Victims of slavery and human trafficking are protected under United States and California law. The hotlines are:

• Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Toll-free.
• Operated by nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations.
• Anonymous and confidential.
• Accessible in more than 160 languages.
• Able to provide help, referral to services, training, and general information.

The new law requires that the notice be printed in English and Spanish, and, if the establishment is located in a county where a language other than English or Spanish is the most widely spoken language, then in that third language as well. The California Department of Justice will post a model notice for download on its website, http://oag.ca.gov/, no later than April 1, 2013. Massage therapists who are not certified by the CAMTC will be required to post the notice as of the date that the model notice becomes available on the California Department of Justice website.