Topic: Workers' Rights

Would have prohibited commissioners from the Public Utilities Commission and Public Advocate’s Office from seeking employment at the entities they regulate within one to two years of the end of a term, and imposed new requirements on utilities for recouping overspent forecasts.

Strengthens labor law enforcement outlined in the 2004 Private Attorney General’s Act (PAGA) by increasing transparency, amending the statute of limitations, and creating protections against retaliation for employees who have experienced workplace violations.

Improves employment standards for janitorial labor within the state.

Would have strengthened employment protections by requiring a successor subcontractor to maintain contracts for janitorial staff for 90 days, and to offer continued employment if their performance is satisfactory after the 90-day window closes.

Would have improved transparency by requiring private contractors working with local governments to submit reports that detail service costs, workforce data, and performance reports

Mandates that public agencies make a presentation of their vacancies and recruitment efforts in a public hearing once annually, and that a union implement a plan to reduce vacancies if they exceed 20%.

Expands the tools available to public enforcement agencies to ensure that worker health and safety training requirements are met for individuals working for live events at public venues.

Would have established employment protections for grocery and retail drug workers by requiring that a company share plans to implement workplace technology 60 days in advance, and setting ratios for workers and self-service check-out stations.

Would extend workplace safety laws to the majority of domestic workers, including nannies, homecare workers, and housekeepers. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.

Would require that chain employers provide at least 60 days notice of the closure of a business location, and offer employees a store transfer to a location within 25 miles if there is an open position for which they are qualified. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.

Improves worker safety by requiring employers to create a workplace violence plan, maintain documentation about workplace threats or incidents, and train employees on initiating an emergency response. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.

Protects workers from retaliation after they report labor violations or unequal pay. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.

Protects workers against retaliation or adverse action if they choose not to participate in an employer-hosted meeting about politics or religion that is unrelated to their job.

Prevents the new owner of a grocery store or distribution center from executing mass layoffs of existing workers or retaliating against workers who are involved in collective bargaining efforts. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.

Would ensure protection against discrimination for individuals who are caregivers for family members. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.

Would give unionized public employees the right to sympathy-strike with other public employee unions. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.

Would require certain education employers to offer open positions to existing classified staff for 10 days before opening the position for applications from the general public; mandates that the employer must provide job training to an interested, but unqualified, internal candidate. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.

Expands worker rights by allowing temporary employees of cities and counties to join existing bargaining units alongside permanent employees. Passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor.

Expands the existing in-person secret ballot process by which farmworkers can unionize to include new procedures for mail ballots, authorization cards, and petition signatures

Establishes a statewide, 10-member Fast Food Council through 2029 to determine minimum wages, working hours, and health and safety standards across the sector

An act to amend Sections 2670, 2671, 2673, 2673.1, and 2675.5 of, and to add Section 2673.2 to, the Labor Code, relating to employment.

An act to amend and repeal Section 12945.6 of, and to amend, repeal, and add Section 12945.2 of, the Government Code, relating to employment.

An act to add Part 5.7 (commencing with Section 1515) to Division 2 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.

An act to amend Sections 98.7 and 1102.5 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.

Lead Author: Dodd Summary: ATVs (Automated Transit Vehicles) are nascent technology in a field (transportation) where runaway tech has often gotten so far ahead of regulation as to put at risk the well-being of Californians. SB336 reins in this not yet fully vetted technology by requiring any public transit operator to have at least one … Continued

Lead Author: Bradford Summary: SB218 allows local governments to better enforce anti-discrimination laws, to establish remedies and penalties for violations for claims that arise under FEHA — the Fair Housing and Employment Act. The bill passed, but was vetoed by the Governor.

Lead Author: Lorena Gonzalez Summary: Current practice allows schools in the University of California system to subcontract out many staff positions, relieving them of the burden to offer certain benefits and protections a worker receives as part of a union. The UC system has displaced more than 7,000 of these jobs in recent years. ACA14 … Continued

Lead Authors: Mark Stone, Lorena Gonzalez, Reyes Summary: Many California employers settle threatened claims or lawsuits with agreements that includes a no re-hire provision, preventing the aggrieved employee from ever applying for a job within the company or its subsidiaries again. No re-hire provisions do nothing more than punish an employee who has been harmed. … Continued

Lead Author: Lorena Gonzalez Summary: Employers make common practice of forcing workers, as a condition of employment, to sign mandatory arbitration agreements — in effect, demanding they waive their full legal right to pursue damages in a potential dispute — to get a job. This practice is unethical and protects offending companies from being held … Continued

Lead Author: Kalra Summary: Workplace retaliation claims — where an employer takes adverse action against an employee as retaliation for exercising their rights under the Labor Code — increased by 22% in 2016, and immigration-specific retaliation claims increased by 90% in 2017. Immigrant workers are often afraid or unable to quickly come forward with a … Continued

Lead Authors: Limón, Lorena Gonzalez Summary: Early childcare providers play critical roles in educational and emotional development of countless California children. Despite their vital role, many childcare providers are underpaid, on the cusp of poverty, and lack the power to collectively bargain. AB378 guarantees this right to early childcare providers for families receiving state subsidies … Continued

Lead Author: Lorena Gonzalez Summary: Corporations have vastly more resources than individual workers, and often leverage those resources during a strike to “starve out” a workforce — negotiating slowly as workers worry their bank accounts will run dry. AB1066 grants workers an opportunity to collect unemployment benefits for the first three weeks of a strike, … Continued

Author: Skinner   Under current law, employees that are members of school and community college unions are allowed to perform union duties without loss of pay or other benefits. SB 1085 would require that public sector workers who are union officers or stewards be entitled to take a leave of absence in order to fulfill … Continued

author: Thurmond co-author: Gonzalez Fletcher   Under current law, many California workers are not entitled to overtime compensation if their annual salary is greater than $23,660. In 2016, the Obama Administration issued new regulations, doubling that ceiling to include guaranteed overtime compensation for workers making less than $47,476. AB 1565 would protect low and mid-income … Continued

author: Lara co-author: Gonzalez Fletcher   University of California (UC) frequently outsources jobs from their unionized workforce and hires cheaper non-union contractors — undermining work quality and worker protections. To ensure a living wage and adequate worker protections, SB 574 would mandate that all UC contracted employees who work more than 10 days at the … Continued

author: Hertzberg co-author: Gonzalez Fletcher   Previously, workers in California who filed a labor claim against their employers were not able to work while it was in process — a process that can take years. This places an unfair and heavy burden on workers. SB 306 provides those workers with the right to return to … Continued

author: Obernolte co-authors: Baker, Wilk   Corporations and businesses are being given even more rights than their own workers in the Trump era. AB 912 would expand that practice by reducing penalties for small businesses when they violate worker pay, health, and safety laws. (This bill is currently in the assembly.)

author: McCarty co-authors: Lara, Stone, Wiener   To sidestep taxation and domestic labor laws, corporate CEOs have removed manufacturing jobs from the United States in record numbers over the last decade. These departures have had an adverse impact on the economy and on training opportunities for trade workers. To reaffirm California’s commitment to creating domestic … Continued

author: Limon Bureau of Labor data indicates that childcare workers are 18 percent more likely to experience lost-time job injuries than those working in other industries. Injuries experienced by childcare workers can diminish the overall safety of childcare centers for workers and children. To reduce workplace injuries, AB 676 would require that every licensed early … Continued

author: Chu co-author: Thurmond   Prevailing wage is the hourly wage paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics in the largest city in each county. AB 199 will ensure that workers on construction projects that use public money would be paid the prevailing wage. This provides equity and helps the many construction workers … Continued

author: Thurmond co-author: Gonzalez Fletcher   Current labor laws limit a worker’s legal actions when they have not been paid by their employer. This diminishes workers’ rights by establishing no penalty to employers for not compensating their workers while a complaint is being handled. Under AB 1701, workers who have not been paid for a … Continued

(Jackson) Labor & Employment: 2-1-4   co-authors: Bonilla, Campos, C. Garcia, Gonzalez, Lopez   Although California is one of the few states to provide partial paid parental leave, we are still far behind developed nations throughout the world in terms of allowing new parents paid, relaxing time to spend with their newborn children. SB 654 … Continued

(Jackson) Judiciary: 4-2-1 (Jackson) Floor: 22-14-4   co-authors: Bonilla, Campos, C. Garcia, Gonzalez, Lopez   Although California is one of the few states to provide partial paid parental leave, we are still far behind developed nations throughout the world in terms of allowing new parents paid, relaxing time to spend with their newborn children. SB … Continued

(Hernandez) Floor: 44-30-6 Over 460,000 California workers obtained an injury or illness while on the job in 2014. AB2895 would have forced all employers in California to create and maintain an injury prevention program to protect their workers. At worksites with three or more employees, employers would have been required to inform employees of the … Continued

Floor: 38-35-7 authors: Gonzalez, Bonta, C. Garcia, Hernández co-authors: Hall, Allen, Beall, Block, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chiu, Chu, Gipson, Hancock, Jones-Sawyer, Lara, Leno, Liu, Lopez, McCarty, Medina, Mitchell, Santiago, M. Stone, Thurmond, Ting   For almost 100 years, California farm workers have been treated as second-class citizens. Farm laborers grow and harvest food — often … Continued

Floor: 45-28-7 authors: Gonzalez, Bonta, C. Garcia, Hernández co-authors: Hall, Allen, Beall, Block, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chiu, Chu, Gipson, Hancock, Jones-Sawyer, Lara, Leno, Liu, Lopez, McCarty, Medina, Mitchell, Santiago, M. Stone, Thurmond, Ting   For almost 100 years, California farm workers have been treated as second-class citizens. Farm laborers grow and harvest food — often … Continued

(Wagner) Labor & Employment: 1-4-2 Breaks at work are vital to the health and safety of employees. Right now, employers must provide their employees with fair and necessary meal or rest periods, and if they fail to do so, employers are required to pay the worker an additional hour for every skipped break. AB1948 would … Continued

Floor: 44-32-4 authors: Gonzalez, Bonta, C. Garcia, Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, McCarty, Thurmond co-authors: Hall, Allen, Block, Chiu, Chu, Gatto, Lopez, Medina, Mitchell, Monning, M. Stone, Ting, Weber   For almost 100 years, California farm workers have been treated as second-class citizens. Farm laborers grow and harvest food — often working up to 60 hours a week … Continued

Floor: 30-47-3 authors: Gonzalez, Bonta, C. Garcia, Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, McCarty, Thurmond co-authors: Hall, Allen, Block, Chiu, Chu, Gatto, Lopez, Medina, Mitchell, Monning, M. Stone, Ting, Weber   This particular vote was a Republican play to move the bill back to the Senate and potentially kill the legislation. A ‘no’ vote meant that legislator was voting … Continued

Floor: 21-14-4 authors: Gonzalez, Bonta, C. Garcia, Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, McCarty, Thurmond co-authors: Hall, Allen, Block, Chiu, Chu, Gatto, Lopez, Medina, Mitchell, Monning, M. Stone, Ting, Weber   For almost 100 years, California farm workers have been treated as second-class citizens. Farm laborers grow and harvest food — often working up to 60 hours a week … Continued