male janitorial staff cleaning the establishment

California's Labor Commissioner's Office has launched an online registration system for janitorial service providers and contractors operating in the state.

Janitorial companies in California are required by law to register annually.  The registration fee is $500. First time applicants must also pay a nonrefundable $500 application fee. The fee covers the cost of administering and enforcing the janitorial registration program.  The annual renewal fee is also $500

Companies with one or more employees that fail to register by October 1 may be subject to a civil fine, as will any person or entity that contracts with them. Unregistered companies face a fine of $100 for each calendar day that the employer is unregistered — not to exceed $10,000.

According to the law, a covered worker is anyone working predominantly as a janitor, whether as an employee, independent contractor or a franchisee.

According to  Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su, the online registration tool will make it easy for janitorial employers to comply with the law, and will help the state to hold accountable businesses in the underground economy that underpay their workers and evade labor laws.

The registration is one way for property owners to distinguish law-abiding contractors from wage thieves, Su said. Companies that do not register will be subject to a fine of $100 for each calendar day that the employer is unregistered, not to exceed $10,000.

The Labor Commissioner's Office has posted a registration search tool that shows whether employers and contractors are properly registered.

For more information, visit the California Department of Industrial Relations website.