Effective January 1, 2013, a new California law, Civil Code section 52.6, requires specified businesses and other establishments to conspicuously post a notice guiding the public to report suspected slavery and human trafficking.  The places affected include:

– Restaurants
– Urgent care and emergency room facilities
– Privately operated job recruitment centers
– Commercial airports, rail stations, bus stations and truck stops
– “Adult or sexually oriented businesses” (as defined by Penal Code section 318.5)
– Businesses offering  “massage or bodywork services” from uncertified message therapists
– Farm labor contractors

The notice must be at least 8.5” x 11” with 16-point font and 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 notice must be in English, Spanish and at least one other language that is “the most widely spoken” in the county where the establishment is located.

The California Department of Justice will develop and make a model notice available online by April 1, 2013.

The state is authorized to fine any business or other establishment that remains in non-compliance 30 days after a written warning ($500 first offense, $1,000 each subsequent offense).