Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
With the usual flurry of activity at the end of the legislative session, California has enacted a slew of bills with labor and employment ramifications.1 Closing out his first year in office, Governor Gavin Newsom signed more than 40 such bills on a wide variety of topics, ranging from antidiscrimination and workplace safety measures to the much-debated worker classification bill (AB 5) codifying the ABC test from last year’s Dynamex case.
Now that things have settled down in Sacramento, we briefly review some significant developments applicable to employers operating in California. Unless otherwise indicated, these new laws will take effect on January 1, 2020, leaving employers with little time to prepare. We will also highlight a few bills that fell short. For more in-depth discussion of these new laws, employers may wish to tune in to our upcoming webinar on October 22, 2019.
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To jump to a particular topic, click on the heading below. |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Employment Discrimination Claims: Extension of Statute of Limitations |
Extends the statute of limitations from one year to three years for complaints alleging employment discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). For this measure, “filing a complaint” refers to filing an intake form with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Does not apply to previously lapsed claims. Leaves unanswered whether claims that arose in calendar year 2019 will be subject to a one- or three-year statute of limitations. |
1/01/2020 |
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Whistleblower Protection: County Patients’ Rights |
Grants whistleblower employment protections to patients’ rights advocates providing patient services at county mental health centers and creates a private right of action to enforce these protections. |
1/01/2020 |
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Racial Discrimination: |
The CROWN Act expands the definition of prohibited racial discrimination, barring employers from banning racially associated hairstyles in dress codes or grooming standards. |
1/01/2020 |
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Labor Commissioner: Judgments |
Expands appeal and enforcement procedures for employer citations for retaliation, and imposes bond requirements and certain deadlines for seeking judicial enforcement. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Education: Sexual Harassment Policy |
Requires that public and charter schools for grades 9-12 prominently display a poster—including display in restrooms and locker rooms—notifying students of the school’s sexual harassment policy. Amends existing law that new students receive this policy to require schools to also provide it to continuing students. |
1/01/2020 |
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Janitorial Workers: Harassment Prevention Training |
Mandates that the Department of Industrial Relations establish a training advisory committee to create a list of qualified organizations that janitorial employers can engage to provide sexual harassment prevention training. |
1/01/2020 |
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Construction Industry: Harassment Prevention Training |
Instructs the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) to develop industry-specific harassment prevention policy and training standard. Delays harassment prevention training requirement for the construction industry, until 1/01/2021. Clarifies how employers with multi-employer CBAs may satisfy training duty. |
1/01/2020 |
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Staffing Agencies, Temporary Workers: Harassment Prevention Training |
Delays harassment prevention training requirement for seasonal, temporary, or other employees hired to work for less than six months, until 1/01/2021. |
1/01/2020 |
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Certain Healthcare Providers: Implicit Bias Training |
Requires hospitals providing perinatal care, alternative birth centers, and primary clinics serving as birth centers to create an implicit bias program for providers, including a refresher course every two years. Also instructs the department of health to track and publish information on pregnancy-related deaths. Requires hospitals to provide patients with information regarding their right to be free from racial discrimination and how to file a discrimination complaint. |
1/01/2020 |
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Harassment Prevention Training |
Amends last year’s SB 1343 to revise the deadline for expanded training requirements of new employees on antiharassment state law guidelines to 1/01/2021. Does not modify the training timeline for supervisory employees, or the threshold requirement that employers with 5 or more employees must provide training. |
8/30/2019 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities |
Amends the Labor Code to establish an apprenticeship subcommittee to develop programs to help individuals with disabilities obtain job training. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Waiver as Condition of Employment |
Bans employers from requiring employees or applicants to waive any right, forum, or procedure under the FEHA or Labor Code as a condition of employment. Further prohibits employers from retaliating or threatening employees who refuse to waive such rights. Applies to agreements entered into, modified or extended on or after 1/01/2020. Does not apply to postdispute settlement, or negotiated severance, agreements. |
1/01/2020 |
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Settlement Agreements: Restraints in Trade |
Prohibits employment settlement agreements from restricting a settling party from working for the employer or any parent, subsidiary, or affiliate (“no rehire” agreements), unless the employer has made a good faith determination that the person engaged in sexual harassment or assault. Applies to agreements entered into on or after 1/01/2020. |
1/01/2020 |
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Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements |
Provides consumers or employees remedies if a drafting party breaches an arbitration agreement by failing to pay costs and fees. For example, employees could move the matter to court, and would receive mandatory monetary sanctions for a drafting party’s default. Further mandates arbitration companies to report demographic data related to race and gender of arbitrators. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Long-Term Care Insurance |
Creates a task force to study establishing a public long-term insurance plan program. The task force’s options and feasibility report will be due 7/01/2021, and will then be subject to actuarial review. |
1/01/2020 |
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Living Organ Donation |
Requires an employer to provide additional, unpaid leave time, of up to 30 days a year, to an employee who is donating an organ. |
1/01/2020 |
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State Employees: Pre-Hire Statement of Benefits |
Mandates the Department of Human Resources to create an explanation of benefits of state service for applicants to state employment positions. Also requires applicants to sign an acknowledgment that they have received the benefits explanation. |
1/01/2020 |
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Flexible Spending Accounts: Annual Withdrawal Notice |
Requires that employers provide two forms of notice to employees participating in a flexible spending account (including a health savings, dependent care, or adoption assistance account) of upcoming withdrawal deadlines toward the end of a benefit year. |
1/01/2020 |
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Paid Family Leave |
Increases paid family leave from six weeks to eight weeks beginning 7/01/2020, and creates a task force to develop a proposal for further job protections, including an increased wage replacement rate. |
6/27/2019 |
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Unemployment Insurance |
Amends definition of “employment” for unemployment benefits purposes to include all motion picture production work done outside the state if some part of the service is performed within the state. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Infant Labor Rules
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AB 267 extends existing restrictions on employing newborns in motion pictures to their employment in the broader entertainment industry (recording, modeling, etc.). Together, these bills also provide that physicians who are board-certified in family medicine (in addition to pediatricians) may certify that infants are sufficiently healthy to work in the industry. |
1/01/2020 |
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Payment of Wages: Print Shoot Employees |
Allows employers of print shoot employees to pay wages owed at the time of termination on the next regular payday, rather than immediately. “Print shoot employees” are defined as individuals hired for a period of limited duration to render services relating to or supporting a still image shoot. Presumably this term would include photographers, photographers’ assistants, models, and perhaps others. The persons must be hired for services related to a still image shoot, including film or digital photography, for use in print, digital, or internet media. |
9/05/2019 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Health Care Enrollment Periods |
Extends individual health care benefit plan enrollment periods. For example, for plans outside the California Exchange, the enrollment period shall run from 11/1 of the preceding calendar year to 1/31 of the benefit year. Also sets the effective date of coverage to 2/1 of the benefit year, if plan selection is made between 12/16 and 1/31. |
1/01/2020 |
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Skilled Nursing Facilities: Change of Ownership, Employee Retention |
Requires a licensee of a skilled nursing facility to give detailed written notice to residents, at least 90 days in advance, of any sale, transfer of operation, or other change of ownership. Also precludes prospective licensees, during a 60-day transition period, from discharging employees without cause or otherwise reducing wages, benefits, or other job conditions. |
1/01/2020 |
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Health Benefit Exchange |
Among other things, creates a Health Benefit Exchange program to subsidize health insurance for individuals earning less than 600% of the federal poverty level, implements an individual mandate penalty, changes labor and workers’ compensation rules to allow state hospital patients participating in a vocational rehabilitation program to be paid the federal minimum wage, and prevents state hospitals from taking patient earnings from job rehabilitation programs to pay for care or housing. |
Varies |
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Health Care Coverage Reporting |
Requires all health care service plans or insurers to report enrollment data for products sold inside and outside of Covered California plans and any other business lines, and to include participant data for certain multiple employer welfare arrangements. |
1/01/2020 |
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Health Facilities: Employee Reporting Protections |
Grants health facility employees or their representatives the right to privately discuss possible regulatory violations or patient safety concerns with an inspector during an investigation or inspection by the CA Department of Public Health. Also creates a rebuttable presumption of discrimination if the health facility takes any negative employment action against an employee within 120 days of filing a grievance or participating in an investigation related to the quality of care, services or conditions at the facility. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Public Transit: Lactation Rooms |
Requires public transit stations undergoing renovations to include a private lactation space with a chair, electrical outlet, and a shelf or table, and requires new builds on or after 1/01/2021 to include such a lactation room. |
1/01/2020 |
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Lactation Accommodation |
Obligates employers to provide a private, safe lactation room with a seat, electricity, and a surface, that is not a bathroom and is in proximity to the employee’s work station. Employers must also provide access to refrigeration or a cooler and running water near the workspace. Creates undue hardship exemptions for certain employers. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Exemption for Employment-Related Information |
Exempts from the coverage of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) certain personal information businesses gather from employees or job applicants within the normal scope of employment or hiring. The exemption is scheduled to sunset on 1/01/2021. |
1/01/2020 |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Definitions |
Expands the definition of “publicly available” information that is exempted from the CCPA to include information that is made available from government records. Also amends the definition of “personal information” to include information that could be “reasonably associated” with a specific individual or household, and to exclude deidentified or aggregate information. |
1/01/2020 |
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Personal Information: Data Breaches |
Revises the definition of personal information in various consumer protection statutes to include biometric data, tax identification numbers, and passport numbers. Authorizes businesses notifying of a breach to include instructions on how to notify other entities that the breached data is no longer reliable for authentication. |
1/01/2020 |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Vehicle Information |
Limits application of CCPA for vehicle or ownership information retained or shared between a new motor vehicle dealer and the manufacturer, as related to repairs covered by warranty or recalls. |
1/01/2020 |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Personal Information |
Clarifies provisions of the CCPA’s Fair Credit Report Act exemption, stating that: (1) businesses do not need to collect or retain personal information for longer than they would during ordinary business; (2) CCPA obligations do not apply to certain communications between a business and consumer until 1/01/2021; and (3) a private right of action arises after a data breach where nonencrypted and nonredacted personal information is disclosed. |
1/01/2020 |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Contact Information
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Revises consumer options for a CCPA request to disclose private information gathered by a company. If the company maintains a website, it must make the website available for customers to submit requests the information gathered. Internet-only businesses with direct relationships with consumers are required to provide only an email address for consumers to submit requests. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Public Contracts: Claim Resolution Extension |
Prolongs the provision allowing contractors to seek public agency review of late payment or non-payment claims stemming from public works projects through 1/01/2027. |
1/01/2020 |
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Prevailing Wage: Preconstruction Work |
Expands “public works” to include site assessments, feasibility studies, and other preconstruction work, even if no more work is performed. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Sales and Use Tax Law: Marketplace Facilitators |
Updates state law consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court holding in South Dakota v. Wayfair, which allows the state to tax remote retailers with a certain amount of sales in California, regardless of the retailer’s physical location.6 |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Failure to Pay Wages: Remedies and Penalties |
Authorizes employees seeking wages owed to bring an action either to recover statutory penalties against the employer or to seek to enforce civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA)—but not both for the same violation. Also makes non-payment of wages under the Barbering and Cosmetology Act a recoverable offense. |
1/01/2020 |
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Failure to Pay Wages: Restitution & Contract Wages |
Extends the authority of the Labor Commissioner to cite an employer’s failure to pay minimum wages under a contract. “Contract wages” means wages based on an agreement in excess of the applicable minimum wage for regular, nonovertime hours. |
1/01/2020 |
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Regular Paydays: University of California |
Mandates that University of California employees be paid on a regular payday. States that employees paid on a monthly basis must be paid no more than five days after the end of the payroll period. Also provides that employees paid more frequently be paid according to their previously announced pay schedule. |
1/01/2020 |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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AB 57
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Worker Classification: |
AB 5 adopts as law the ABC test from the Dynamex v. Superior Court8 case as a way to classify whether workers are employees or independent contractors, based on whether the hiring entity controls the work, if the worker does tasks outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and whether the worker performs similar work for other customers. Applies the ABC test to the wage orders, labor code, unemployment insurance code, and, effective 7/01/2020, workers’ compensation laws. Creates seven broad categories of exceptions – occupations and industries for which the ABC test is not applied. A related measure, AB 170, exempts newspaper distributors from these new requirements, but only until 2021. |
1/01/2020, in general
7/01/2020 for purposes of workers’ compensation |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Mental Health Treatment: Law Enforcement |
Creates a rebuttable presumption (through 1/01/2025) that a mental health condition or a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress or other mental health disorder is an occupational injury for law enforcement officers and firefighters. The occupational injury status would allow officers and firefighters to collect benefits while they receive treatment |
1/01/2020
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Employee Blood Lead Levels: Reporting and Investigations |
Institutes new reporting procedures, requiring Department of Public Health to inform Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) of employee blood lead level tests of at least 20 micrograms per deciliter. Cal/OSHA must then initiate an investigation and may impose citations or fines. |
1/01/2020 |
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Valley Fever: Training |
Mandates that construction or renovation employers with operations where Valley Fever is endemic must provide awareness training to workers, in years after the first year when a county is listed as “highly endemic” (meaning an incidence rate of 20 cases per 100,000 persons per year). |
1/01/2020 |
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Hazardous Substances: Cosmetics and Disinfectants |
Compels importers or manufacturers of hazardous substances used in cosmetics or disinfectants to create and post a safety data sheet (SDS). The SDS must be available in multiple languages. |
7/01/2020 |
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Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Reporting |
Requires employers to report serious injury, illness, or death immediately through an online mechanism established by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health or to report by telephone. |
1/01/2020 |
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Occupational Safety and Health: Expanded Definitions for Reporting Requirements |
Revises the definition of “serious injury or illness” in the workplace to remove the 24-hour minimum time requirement for inpatient hospitalization, for reasons other medical observation or tests. Also updates the definition of “serious exposure” as exposure to a hazardous substance that could realistically cause death or serious physical harm. |
1/01/2020 |
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Emergency Rule on Wildfire Smoke Protections |
Requires employers, where workers could be exposed to wildfire smoke, to check the Air Quality Index for PM2.5 and provide respirators as needed. Employers must warn employees on hazards of wildfire smoke and provide training on topics such as the health effects of wildfire smoke, the right to seek medical treatment, and how to use and maintain respirators. |
7/18/2019 |
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While not all new laws fall neatly within the above categories, California employers may be interested in the following noteworthy developments.
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Effective Date |
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Vote By Mail Ballot: Employee Protections |
Prohibits employers from requiring or requesting employees bring mail ballots to work and creates a $10,000 civil fine for violations. |
1/01/2020 |
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Service Animals |
Expands criminal penalties against any person who permits or causes a service dog to be injured or killed, by requiring increased restitution to the dog’s owner. Also eliminates a previous requirement that the dog be working when injured or killed. |
1/01/2020 |
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Marketplace Sellers |
Requires marketplaces (as defined) to provide sellers with clear terms and conditions in plain language, and a written statement of the reasons for suspending or terminating a sales arrangement. |
1/01/2020 |
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Domestic Partnerships |
Eliminates requirements that limit domestic partnerships to same sex couples or to couples where at least one partner is over age 62. |
1/01/2020 |
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Human Trafficking: Local Ordinances |
Clarifies that local governments are not prevented from adopting and enforcing local rules or ordinances to prevent human trafficking. |
1/01/2020 |
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Retail Food Safety: Latex Gloves Ban |
Prohibits the use of latex gloves and utensils in food facilities and retail food establishments, in favor of nonlatex gloves. |
1/01/2020 |
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Finally, we spill a little ink on bills that either did not make it to Governor Newsom’s desk, or died there. These bills are worth attention because we may see them again in 2020. Due to California’s two-year legislative term, measures proposed in 2019 can carry over into 2020, or be revived, for further consideration. “Zombie” bills are not unusual and can make real progress if reintroduced. While we cannot yet predict the fate of these measures, employers should keep their eyes open for movement on these topics.
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Notable Vetoed or Failed Bills |
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Law |
Main Topic |
Summary |
Status |
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Sexual Harassment: Presumption of Retaliation |
Extends certain antidiscrimination provisions to sexual harassment victims and adds a rebuttable presumption of discrimination if an employer takes a negative employment action within 90 days of receiving notice of harassment. |
Vetoed10 |
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Voluntary Veterans’ Preference |
Allows employers to choose to give veterans preference in employment decisions by establishing the Voluntary Veterans’ Preference Employment Policy Act. |
Failed |
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State Employees: Infants at Work |
Establishes a pilot program allowing state agencies to opt in to a program to allow their employees to bring infant to bring the workplace. |
Vetoed11 |
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Labor Standards Enforcement: Extension of Statute of Limitations |
Extends the statute of limitations for employees to bring a workplace retaliation claim to the DLSE from six months to two years, and authorizes attorneys’ fees for successful whistleblower claims. |
Vetoed12 |
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Union Agent-Worker Privilege |
Establishes a privilege between a union agent and an employee to claim confidentiality for communications made between the two during union representation. |
Inactive |
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Schools: Paid Maternity Leave |
Extends at least six weeks of paid maternity leave to female academic employees of school districts, charter schools, and community colleges during and after childbirth. |
Vetoed13 |
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Public Subsidies: Prevailing Wages
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For contracts awarded after 7/01/2020, classifies as de minimis public subsidies that are less than $500,000 and less than 2% of the project cost, for the purposes of paying prevailing wages. If the project is entirely single family dwellings, the de minimis classification applies if the subsidy is less than 2% of the project cost. |
Vetoed14 |
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Unfair Immigration-Related Practices |
Prohibits employers from holding or destroying immigration-related documents while committing—or with the intent to commit—trafficking or coercive labor practices. Requires employers to provide a “Worker’s Bill of Rights” to employees hired on or after 7/01/2021. Similar provisions were included in AB 2732 in the 2017-2018 legislative session, which similarly was vetoed by former Governor Brown. |
Vetoed15 |
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Service Contracts: Public Transit or Waste Collection, Employee Retention |
Extends bid preferences to public transit contractors or waste removal contractors that agree to retain prior employees to state agency contracts. |
Vetoed16 |
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California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: Customer Loyalty Programs |
Clarifies that the CCPA does not ban a business from offering discounts, benefits, or different goods or services to consumer members of loyalty or rewards programs. Also allows businesses to sell consumer information to third parties after disclosing the terms of the sale and receiving express consent. |
Inactive |
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Unemployment Insurance: Striking Employees |
Permits workers involved in a trade dispute, including strikes, to collect unemployment benefits after a three-week waiting period. |
Failed |
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Outdoor Worker Safety: Wildfire Smoke |
Obligates Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt regulations requiring employers to provide respirators to workers who may be exposed to harmful smoke. Would require protections similar to Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Rule. |
Inactive |
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Facial Recognition Technology |
Requires businesses using facial recognition technology to display a “clear and conspicuous” physical sign at the entrance to disclose this practice. |
Inactive |
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Third-Party Food Delivery |
Mandates that food delivery platforms ensure that delivery drivers have training on food safety, and maintain liability insurance for drivers during deliveries. |
Inactive |
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Employment Discrimination: Private Right of Action |
Grants employees a private right of action to sue employers that retaliate against them for their status as victims of, or for seeking time off work due to, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. |
Vetoed17 |
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Prevailing Wage: Charter Schools |
Expands “public works” for purposes of paying prevailing wages to include construction or repair work on charter schools when paid for, at least in part, with revenue bonds. |
Vetoed18 |
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Call Centers: Notice If Relocating to a Foreign Country |
The Protect Call Center Jobs Act of 2019 requires employers with customer service call centers that intend to relocate those centers to a foreign country to notify the Labor Commissioner at least 120 days in advance. Imposes a fine of $10,000 per day if the notice is late and bans violators from receiving state grants, loans, or tax benefits for five years. |
Vetoed19 |
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Antidiscrimination Enforcement: Local Ordinances & Agencies |
Authorizes local governments within the County of Los Angeles to enact their own antidiscrimination laws relating to employment, including establishing remedies and penalties for violations. |
Vetoed20 |
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Workplace Safety: Assault Reporting for Certain Facilities |
Requires the State Department of State Hospitals, the State Department of Developmental Services, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to report the total number of assaults against employees at each operated or licensed facility (including developmental or community care centers), on a quarterly basis, to the state bargaining units at the pertinent department. Annual reports would be due to the Legislature. |
Vetoed21 |
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Annual Pay Data Reporting |
Requires private employers, with 100 or more employees and that file an annual EEO-1 report, to submit a pay data report to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing with specific wage information by race, ethnicity, and sex in each job category. Intended to codify now-scuttled plans for the federal EEOC to collect such information as part of the EEO-1 reporting duty. |
Held in committee |
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All in all, California employers have numerous, substantial compliance challenges to tackle before they ring in the New Year.
See Footnotes
1 According to Governor Newsom’s office, 870 bills were enacted, in total, in the 2019 session.
2 Corinn Jackson, You Can’t Touch My Hair: California Bans Racial Discrimination Based on Hairstyle with CROWN Act, Littler ASAP (July 12, 2019).
3 Marissa Dragoo, Katherine Kimsey, and Kevin O’Neill, California Pushes Back Start Date for Small Business Anti-Harassment Training Requirement, Littler ASAP (Sept. 2, 2019).
4 Michelle Barrett Falconer and Sebastian Chilco, California Extends Paid Family Leave Benefits from 6 to 8 Weeks, Littler ASAP (July 1, 2019).
5 Philip Gordon, Kwabena Appenteng, and Zoe Argento, Employers Receive Last-Minute Reprieve From The Most Onerous CCPA Compliance Obligations, Littler Insight (Sept. 17, 2019); see also Philip L. Gordon, What Should Employers do About the CCPA?, Littler Insight (Apr. 29, 2019).
6 For more information about the Wayfair decision, see Edward F. Berbarie, Supreme Court Year in Review: Union Agency Fees, Travel Restrictions and the Retirement of Justice Kennedy, Littler Insight (July 9, 2018).
7 Patrick Stokes, Jim Paretti, Michael Lotito, and Bruce Sarchet, California AB 5’s Author and the Governor Attempt to Clarify Law’s Scope, Littler Insight (Sept. 23, 2019).
8 See Jim Paretti, Bruce Sarchet, Michael Lotito and Patrick Stokes, AB 5 Update: Joint Employment, Retroactivity, and Implementation Challenges, Littler ASAP (Oct. 11, 2019); see also Jim Paretti, Michael J. Lotito, Bruce Sarchet, and Patrick Stokes, Dynamex Retroactivity Question Sent to California State Court, Littler ASAP (Sept. 25, 2019). For additional background on Dynamex, see William Hays Weissman, The Implications of Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court: California's Adoption of the ABC Test for Purposes of the Wage Orders, Littler Report (June 11, 2018).
9 Chad Greeson and Alka Ramchandani, Are You Prepared? FAQs on Cal/OSHA’s Emergency Wildfire Smoke Protection Regulation, Littler Insight (Sept. 26, 2019).
10 In his veto message, Governor Newsom stated that while he supports “efforts to strengthen workplace protections for all survivors of sexual harassment and abuse,” AB 171 “creates a standard for a particular form of sex-based discrimination different from applicable standards for other forms of discrimination that could weaken, rather than strengthen, existing worker protections.”
11 According to his veto statement, Governor Newsom felt this bill exposed the state to a high risk of lawsuits and provided an inadequate amount of time for implementation. He also expressed a preference that the issue be addressed administratively or via collective bargaining. He is directing CalHR to develop a pilot program.
12 Governor Newsom’s veto message encourages “the Legislature to consider an approach that is consistent with the other anti-retaliation statute of limitations in the Labor Code which are set to one year.”
13 In his veto message, Governor Newsom shared his concern at the significant cost of this proposal and his belief that the bill “should be considered as part of the annual budget process and as part of local collective bargaining.”
14 Governor Newsom vetoed this bill due to concerns about unintended consequences and because the similar existing administrative practice does not appear insufficient.
15 As explained in his veto statement, Governor Newsom—like his predecessor—took issue with the employee notice requirement imposed by AB 589, which he finds “overly burdensome for law-abiding employers.” He further noted that the notice “may not actually help workers who are the targets of trafficking.”
16 According to Governor Newsom, this bill’s “bid preference would significantly limit the state’s contracting authority and could hinder competition.”
17 Governor Newsom’s veto message notes that survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking already have remedies available to them, including filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner or suing under PAGA.
18 This bill was vetoed because Governor Newsom declined to extend the definition of “publicly funded projects” to include conduit revenue bond projects.
19 According to his statement, Governor Newsom vetoed AB 1677 because the “significant penalties and restrictions . . . might dissuade businesses that have no intention of moving their operations from making any further investments in California – which could hurt, not help, California workers.”
20 Governor Newsom vetoed this bill because he concluded that lifting a long-standing preemption in this fashion “could create confusion, inconsistent enforcement of the law and increased costs without a corresponding increase in worker protections.” He encouraged the Legislature to come back with a less ambiguous measure.
21 The governor’s veto statement indicates his preference that SB 363’s reporting requirements be addressed administratively and that the Legislature consider a more appropriate solution.
