Seyfarth Synopsis: Dominating this spring’s planting of proposed employment-related legislation are bills aimed at ending sexual harassment and promoting gender equity. Among the secondary crops are bills regarding accommodation, leave, criminal history, and wage and hour law. It threatens to be another bitter fall harvest for California’s employer community.

California legislators stormed into the second half of the 2017-18 legislative session, introducing over 2,000 bills by the February 16 bill introduction deadline. With Spring upon us, one must ponder what L&E-related bills planted thus far will grow into by the time of the legislative harvest this fall. By that time some will have died on the vine in the summer heat, and some, fully ripened, will go to the Governor. Will the Governor, among the closing acts of his term, approve or reject them?

Meanwhile, the newly planted bills will get a week to rest as legislators head for Spring Break today, March 22. The Legislature reconvenes on April 2 for committee hearings and amendments. June 1 is the deadline for legislation to pass out of its house of origin. Stay tuned for more in-depth analyses of the proposed bills as the session continues.

Sexual Harassment

No fewer than ten bills address the issue of sexual harassment. Some are merely spot bills, while others are more developed. Because you all have day jobs, we have read the bills so you won’t have to. A brief summary of each follows. Contact us if you want to know more. Or even just to vent.

AB 1867 would require employers with 50 or more employees to retain records of all internal employee sexual harassment complaints for ten years, and would allow the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to seek an order compelling non-compliant employers to do so.

SB 1300 would amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to (1) absolve a plaintiff who alleges that his/her employer failed to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent discrimination and harassment from occurring from proving that sexual harassment or discrimination actually occurred, (2) prohibit release of claims under FEHA in exchange for a raise or a bonus or as a condition of employment or continued employment, and (3) require employers, regardless of size, to provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training within 6 months of hire and every two years thereafter to all employees—not just supervisors.

SB 1343, which closely resembles SB 1300, would require employers with five or more employees to provide at least two hours of sexual harassment training to all employees by 2020 and then once every two years thereafter. SB 1343 would also require the DFEH to produce and publish a two-hour video training course that employers may utilize.

SB 224 would extend liability for claims of sexual harassment where a professional relationship exists between a complainant and an elected official, lobbyist, director, or producer. AB 2338 would require talent agencies to provide to employees and artists, and the Labor Commissioner to provide minors and their parents, training and materials on sexual harassment prevention, retaliation, nutrition, reporting resources, and eating disorders.

Assembly Member Gonzalez-Fletcher introduced a package of spot bills (to which substance will later be added) targeting “forced arbitration agreements” and increasing protections for sexual harassment victims. AB 3080 would prohibit (1) requiring employees to agree to mandatory arbitration of any future claims related to sexual harassment, sexual harassment, or sexual assault as a condition of employment and (2) non-disclosure provisions in any settlement agreement. AB 3081 would create a presumption that an employee has been retaliated against if any adverse job action occurs against that employee within 90 days of making a sexual harassment claim, and would extend current sexual harassment training requirements to employers with 25 or more employees. AB 3082 would create a statewide protocol for public agencies to follow when In Home Support Service (IHSS) workers encounter harassment and sexual harassment prevention training for IHSS workers and clients. AB 2079—soon to be named the “Janitor Survivor Empowerment Act”—would enact specific harassment training rules for the janitorial service industry. AB 2079 builds upon AB 1978—the Property Services Workers Protection Act, effective July 1, 2018—which established requirements to combat wage theft and sexual harassment for the janitorial industry.

AB 1761 would require hotels to (1) provide employees with a free “panic button” to call for help when working alone in a guest room, (2) maintain a list of all guests accused of violence or sexual harassment for five years from the date of the accusation and decline service for three years to any guest on that list when the accusation is supported by a sworn statement, and (3) post on the back of each guestroom door a statement that the law protects hotel employees from violent assault and sexual harassment.

SB 1038 would impose personal liability under FEHA on an employee who retaliates by terminating or otherwise discriminating against a person who has filed a complaint or opposed any prohibited practice, regardless of whether the employer knew or should have known of that employee’s conduct. (Personal liability already exists for harassment, but not for retaliation.)

AB 2366 would extend existing law, which already protects employees who take time off work related to their being a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. AB 2366 would also protect employees who take time off because an immediate family member has been such a victim. AB 2366 would also add sexual harassment to the list of reasons for which this protection applies.

AB 2770 addresses the apprehension that harassment complaints and employer responses might trigger defamation suits. AB 2770 creates a “privilege” for complaints of sexual harassment by an employee to an employer based upon credible evidence, for subsequent communications by the employer to “interested persons” and witnesses during an investigation, for statements made to prospective employers as to whether an employee would be rehired, and for determinations that the former employee had engaged in sexual harassment. The California Chamber of Commerce has sponsored this bill.

AB 1870 would extend the time an employee has to file a DFEH administrative claim (including, but not limited to, a sexual harassment claim). The current deadline is one year from the alleged incident. AB 1870 would make it three years! In a similar bill, AB 2946 would extend the time to file a complaint with the DLSE from six months to three years from the date of the violation. This bill would also amend California’s whistleblower provision to authorize a court to award reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff.

AB 1938 would limit employer inquiries about familial status during the hiring or promotional process. AB 1938 would make it unlawful to make any non-job related inquiry about an individual’s real or perceived responsibility to care for family members.

SB 820, the “Stand Together Against Non-Disclosure” (STAND) Act, would prohibit provisions in settlement agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2019 that require the facts of the case to be kept confidential, except where the claimant requested the provision, in cases involving sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sex discrimination. SB 820 would allow settlement amounts to be kept private. The bill is sponsored by the Consumer Attorneys of California and the California Women’s Law Center.

AB 3109 would void any contract or settlement agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2019 that waives a party’s free speech and petition rights, meaning one that would limit a party’s ability to make any written or oral statement before or in connection with an issue before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or make any written or oral statement in a place open to the public or a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest. The bill would also prohibit contracts or settlement agreements that restrict a party’s rights to seek employment or reemployment in any lawful occupation or industry.

Pay Equity

SB 1284 is another effort to mandate annual reporting of pay data. It follows last year’s vetoed AB 2019 attempt at a pay data report, though it more closely resembles last year’s failed revised federal EEO-1 report. SB 1284 would require employers with 100 or more employees to report pay data to the Department of Industrial Relations on or before September 30, 2019 and on or before September 30 each year thereafter. The report is to include the number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex; all levels of officials and managers; professionals; technicians; sales workers; administrative support workers; craft workers; operatives; laborers and helpers; and service workers; and each employee’s total earnings for a 12-month period. Non-compliant employers would be subject to a $500 civil penalty. In contrast, last year’s AB 1209 would have required California employers with 500 or more employees to gather information on pay differences between male and female exempt employees and male and female board members and report the information annually to the Secretary of State for publishing (i.e., public shaming).

Wage/Hour

Pay Statements: SB 1252 would grant employees the right “to receive” a copy (not just inspect) their pay statements. AB 2223 would provide employers the option to provide itemized pay statements on a monthly basis in addition to the currently required semi-monthly basis or at the time wages are paid. Conversely, AB 2613 would impose penalties of $100 for each initial violation plus $100 for each subsequent calendar day, up to seven days, and more than double for subsequent violations, payable to the affected employees, on employers who violate Labor Code provisions requiring payment of wages twice per month on designated paydays, and once per month for exempt employees.

Flexible Work Schedules: AB 2482 would allow non-exempt employees working for private employers and not subject to collective bargaining agreements to request a flexible work schedule to work ten hours per day within a 40-hour workweek without overtime for the 9th and 10th hours, as long as the employee does not work more than 40 hours in the workweek.

Contractor Liability: AB 1565 is an urgency statute that would take effect immediately upon receiving the Governor’s signature. AB 1565 would repeal the express provision that relieved direct contractors for liability for anything other than unpaid wages and fringe or other benefit payments or contributions including interest owed. The law currently extends liability in construction contracts for any debt owed for labor to a wage claimant incurred by any subcontractor acting under, by, or for the direct contractor or the owner.

PAGA: AB 2016 would require that the employee’s required written PAGA notice to the employer include a more in-depth statement of facts, legal contentions, and authorities supporting each allegation, and include an estimate of the number of current and former employees against whom the alleged violations were committed and on whose behalf relief is sought. AB 2016 would also prescribe specified notice procedures if the employee or employee representative seeks relief on behalf of ten or more employees. The bill would exclude health and safety violations from PAGA’s right-to-cure provisions, increase the time the employer has to cure violations from 33 to 65 calendar days, and provide an employee may be awarded civil penalties based only on a violation actually suffered by the employee. (In sum, a valiant effort to provide employers with some modicum of due process in PAGA case, but it doesn’t stand a chance.)

Accommodations

Lactation: AB 1976 would clarify existing law so that employers must make reasonable efforts to provide a room or location for lactation, other than a bathroom. This bill cleared its first hurdle—the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee—by receiving unanimous approval on March 14. SB 937 would require even more: a lactation room must be safe, clean, and free of toxic or hazardous materials, must contain a surface to place a breast pump and personal items, must contain a place to sit, and must have access to electricity. SB 937 would also require employers to develop and implement a new lactation accommodation policy. The policy must describe an employee’s right to a lactation accommodation, how to request an accommodation, the employer’s obligation to provide accommodation, and the employee’s right to file a request with the Labor Commissioner. Employers would be required to respond to an employee’s accommodation request within five days and provide a written response if the request is denied, and maintain accommodation request records for three years. SB 937 would make employers with fewer than five employees eligible for an undue hardship exemption from the room or location requirement. The bill would also charge the DLSE with the responsibility of creating a model lactation policy and request form and making it available to employers on the DLSE website.

Marijuana: About a dozen states now protect medical cannabis users from employment discrimination. California, meanwhile, has permitted employers to enforce policies against the use of cannabis, which remains illegal under federal law. AB 2069 would change that. AB 2069 would prohibit employers from refusing to hire, taking adverse action against, or terminating an employee based on testing positive for cannabis if the employee is a qualified patient with an identification card or their status as one. The bill would permit employers to take corrective action against an employee who is impaired while on the job or on the premises, and would not apply to employers who would lose a monetary or licensing benefit under federal law if they hired or retained such an employee.

Sick & Other Leaves

AB 2841 would increase an employer’s alternate sick leave accrual method from 24 hours by the 120th calendar day of employment to 40 hours (or 5 days) of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 200th calendar day of employment. But an employee’s total sick leave accrual would not need to exceed 80 hours (or 10 days). An employer would be able to limit the amount sick leave carried over to the following year to 40 hours or 5 days. This increase would apply to IHSS providers beginning January 1, 2026.

AB 2587 would remove an employer’s ability to require an employee to take up to two weeks of earned but unused vacation before the employee receives family temporary disability insurance benefits under the paid family leave program to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a minor child within one year of birth or placement during any 12-month period the employee is eligible for these benefits.

Criminal History

Following the state-wide Ban-the-Box law that went into effect on January 1, 2018, AB 2680 would require the California Department of Justice (DOJ) to create a standard consent form that employers must use when requesting that a job applicant consent to a DOJ criminal conviction history background check. Meanwhile, the “Increasing Access to Employment Act,” SB 1298, would limit the criminal history information the DOJ will provide employers to recent misdemeanors and felonies (within five years), and other offenses for which registration as a sex offender is required. The bill would also prohibit the disclosure of any convictions that have been dismissed, exonerations, or arrests that have been sealed.

SB 1412 would allow employers to inquire into a job applicant’s particular conviction, regardless of whether that conviction has been judicially dismissed or sealed, under these specified conditions: (1) the employer is required by state or federal law to obtain information about the particular conviction, (2) the job applicant would carry or use a firearm as part of the employment, (3) the job applicant with that particular conviction would be ineligible to hold the position sought, or (4) the employer is prohibited from hiring an applicant who has that particular conviction.

AB 2647 would prohibit evidence of a current or former employee’s criminal history from being admitted, under specified circumstances, in a civil action based on the current or former employee’s conduct against an employer, an employer’s agents, or an employer’s employees.

In a category all its own, yet still notable:

SB 954 would require an attorney representing a party in mediation to inform the client of the confidentiality restrictions related to mediation and obtain informed written consent that the client understands these restrictions before the client participates in the mediation or mediation consultation.

Workplace Solutions.

Don’t fret yet! Spring has only just sprung, and these bills all have a lot of growing to do (with some pruning for improvement?). Stay tuned … . We’re keeping our eyes and ears glued on the Capitol.