(Hernandez) Floor: 45-30-5
The California labor movement has worked to pass strong worker protection laws, but now many employers deny workers access to justice and due process by requiring them to sign away their hard-earned rights. Many employers require mandatory waivers of rights as a condition of employment and prohibit workers from filing claims to a state agency or court. Instead, they are required to file any potential claim to the employer’s arbitrator. Such agreements are problematic because low-wage and immigrant workers do not have a real choice or real power when deciding between giving up their rights or losing their job and, therefore, the income that supports their family. AB465 would have protected workers from being forced by employers to give up their fundamental rights and made any decision of waiving these rights voluntary, not mandatory.