Update Applicable to:

California Employers

What happened?

Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed several bills that would have given workers and unions expanded protections and rights.

What are the details?

The vetoed bills were:

(1) Assembly Bill (AB) No. 1356: would have required employers to provide workers with a longer notice period for a mass layoff, closure, or relocation, extending it from 60 days to 75 days.

(2)     Senate Bill (SB) No. 799: would have required the (Employment Development Department (EDD) to treat employees who are on strike as eligible for unemployment.

(3)     Senate Bill (SB) 403: would have outlawed caste discrimination in the workplace by adding caste to the list of categories covered in California’s housing, education, and employment discrimination laws.

(4)     Senate Bill SB 731: would have required employers to give 30 days’ advance written notice before requiring an employee who is working from home to return to the facility/office and a right to request working remotely as a reasonable accommodation for disability.

(5)     Senate Bill SB 725: would have required a successor employer in the grocery industry to provide certain dislocated workers with severance pay equal to one week of pay for each year worked with the incumbent employer if the successor did not offer employment to the employee.

(6)     Assembly Bill AB 524: would have added “family caregiver” as a new category of protected status under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and thereby protect employees who qualify as family caregivers from harassment and discrimination due to their status as a caregiver. Would define Family caregiver and member.

For more information, please see the links below:

News articles: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4

Law Firm articles: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4, Article 5, Article 6

What do employers need to do?

Employers who wish to read further can visit the above links. California businesses see this as a big win for employers.

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