The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office is continuing its crackdown on Hollywood agencies it believes are running afoul of the state’s labor laws. Today the city attorney and the State Labor Commissioner sent a letter to Burbank-based Central Casting, the industry’s largest extras-casting business, ordering the company to cease and desist from charging or collecting fees from its background actors. An investigation found that Central Casting “charges applicants a cash-only $25 ’photographic/electronic image’ fee, regardless of whether the applicant actually receives work, and that other casting companies collect fees ranging from $15 to $80.” Letter also were sent to 13 other casting companies, the city attorney said. “The Labor Commissioner’s office is committed to enforcing all of California’s labor laws. This includes ensuring actors are not required to pay a fee which the law prohibits,” Labor Commissioner Julie Su said. “An employer that requires a mandatory fee from actors applying for work as background performers in the entertainment industry violates this important rule.”

The letter marks the latest in a string of moves by city and state officials to ensure compliance with the state’s Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act of 2009, which prohibits charging advance fees. Four talent managers have been charged with charging improper fees, the highest-profile one being Nick Roses, a youth talent manager who worked for established management company Luber Roklin Entertainment.