California Legislative Update…

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NOTE: Since our last update, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB3 on April 4, 2016, which will eventually raise the state’s minimum hourly wage to $15 per hour. SB3 can be found here:http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB3.

California legislators are hard at work revising and promoting several assembly and senate bills in preparation to conclude their work by August 31, 2016. Here is an update on a few pending bills during this current 2016 legislative session:

AB 2667. Waivers. This bill would require a waiver of a legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any other public prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, or any other governmental entity, to be knowing and voluntary, in writing, and expressly not made as a condition of entering into a contract for goods or services or as a condition of providing or receiving goods and services. The bill, among other things, would require a person who seeks to enforce a waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of the act to have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and voluntary and not made as a condition of the contract or of providing or receiving the goods or services. The bill would provide that, with certain exceptions, it applies to any agreement to waive a legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of the act, including an agreement to accept private arbitration, entered into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after January 1, 2017. The bill would provide that nothing in these provisions shall prohibit a person from knowingly and voluntarily entering into binding arbitration. Status: Assembly Motion to Reconsider Filed 6-14-16

AB 2879. Service Member Employment Protection Act. This bill would prohibit a person from requiring a waiver of the protections afforded under the provisions of the Military and Veterans code as a condition of employment, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint, as specified. The bill would prohibit a person from retaliating against a person who refuses to waive his or her rights under those provisions, as prescribed. The bill would require any waiver of the protections afforded under those provisions to be knowing and voluntary, in writing, and expressly not made as a condition of employment, as specified. The bill would require a person seeking to enforce that waiver to have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and voluntary and not made as a condition of employment. The bill would apply its provisions to any waiver agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2017, including an agreement that requires private arbitration. A violation of these provisions would not constitute a crime. The bill would include a severability clause. Status: Active bill in Assembly floor process.

AB 1676. Salary Information. This bill would prohibit an employer, including state and local government employers, from seeking salary history information about an applicant for employment, except as otherwise provided. The bill would require an employer, except state and local government employers, upon reasonable request, to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant for employment. Status: Active bill in Committee process.

SB 1063. Equal Pay. This bill would prohibit an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of another race or ethnicity for substantially similar work. Under existing law, an employer or other person who violates or causes a violation of existing prohibition, or who reduces the wages of any employee in order to comply with that prohibition, is guilty of a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Status: Active bill in Committee process.

AB 1843. Background Checks. This bill would prohibit an employer from asking an applicant for employment to disclose, or from utilizing as a factor in determining any condition of employment, information concerning or related to an arrest, detention, processing, diversion, supervision, adjudication, or court disposition that occurred while the person was subject to the process and jurisdiction of juvenile court law. Status: Active bill in Committee process.

AB 2898. PAGA. This bill would extend time periods by requiring the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, when it does not intend to investigate an alleged violation, to notify the employee and the employer within 45 days and by authorizing the aggrieved employee to commence a civil action 48 days after having sent notice of the alleged violation. The bill would require the agency to send notification within 48 days if it intends to investigate an alleged violation. The bill would authorize an aggrieved employee to commence a civil action after 173 days, if after having received notice of the agency’s intent to investigate, no citation is issued or no further notification is received from the agency. Status: Active bill in Committee process.

There are several pending bills that may impact public and private sector employers, in addition to those that are listed above. The information provided above is an excerpt from the applicable bill information and can be found at http://www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Consult with your legal counsel to determine how new laws will impact your business.