Unbowed and unbroken, California continues to work toward creating that Workers’ Paradise in the Sun, and this legislative session did not disappoint!  Here are the latest new laws that will take effect by the first of the year:

LawSummary & Impact on Employers
AB 1815

Weber (D-San Diego)
Expansion of the CROWN Act.  The Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) already defines the protected characteristic of “race” as including “traits historically associated with race,” including hair textures and protective styles.  The new law eliminates the “historically” qualifier from this definition. 
AB 1870

Ortega (D-Alameda)
Workers’ Compensation Notice.  Existing law already requires employers to conspicuously post a notice informing employees of their rights and options in the event of an occupational injury.  The new law adds that this notice must include the injured employee’s right to consult a licensed attorney to advise them of their rights under workers’ compensation laws.
AB 2123

Papan (D-San Mateo)
No More Mandatory Vacation Before Paid Family Leave.  Under existing law, employers may require an employee to use up to two weeks of their accrued but unused vacation leave prior to the employee receiving benefits under the Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) program.  This new law will no longer permit employers to impose that vacation precondition on PFL benefits.
AB 2299

Flora (R-Amador)
More “Whistleblower” Posting Requirements.  Existing law already requires employers to “prominently display” employees’ whistleblower rights.  This new law adds that employers must also post a “model list of employees’ rights and responsibilities” under the whistleblower laws (prepared by the Labor Commissioner) to comply with this posting requirement.
AB 2499

Schiavo (D-Los Angeles)
Expanded Crime Victim Leave and Accommodations.  Existing law requires employers to permit employees who are victims of certain crimes such as domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault to obtain relief (e.g., a restraining order).  Existing law also requires employers to provide such crime victim employees with reasonable accommodations for their safety at work.

This new law expands these protections to employees who are not themselves crime victims but who have family members who are victims of the qualifying crimes—which are themselves expanded to include conduct causing “bodily injury or death,” brandishing a weapon, and using or threatening to use force against another.  The law also clarifies that employees may use vacation, sick leave, or other paid time off for this leave.  Finally, the new law brings these rights into the FEHA and, thus, within the enforcement authority of the California Civil Rights Department. 
AB 3234

Ortega (D-Alameda)
“Social Compliance Audit” Disclosure.  This new law will require employers that have voluntarily subjected themselves to a “social compliance audit” to post on their website a “clear and conspicuous link” to a report on the audit’s findings.  The law defines “social compliance audit” as a voluntary, nongovernmental inspection to determine whether the employer’s practices comply with state and federal law, including prohibitions against child labor.
SB 399

Wahab (D-Silicon Valley)
Ban on “Captive Audience” Meetings.  Deemed a “job killer” by the California Chamber of Commerce, this new law—named the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act”—prohibits employers from taking adverse action against an employee because that employee refuses to attend meetings or otherwise receive/listen to communications whose purpose is to convey the employer’s “opinion about religious or political matters.” 

Notably, the law defines “political matters” to include “the decision to join or support any . . . labor organization,” meaning that this law appears to prohibit mandatory “captive audience” meetings in which an employer facing a union organizing campaign can discuss the campaign with employees. There are no such prohibitions against a labor union discussing the campaign with employees.

There are some exceptions to this prohibition, such as new employee orientations or trainings mandated by law.  The law imposes a $500 penalty on employers per violation, in addition to the possibility of compensatory and punitive damages.   
SB 764 Padilla (D-San Diego)Child Vlogger Bill of Rights.  Bringing California’s famous “Coogan Law” into the digital age, this new law requires “vloggers” who include minors in their videos to set aside a percentage of gross earnings in a trust account for the benefit of the minor, as well as maintain records of, among other items, earnings and minutes during which the minor appeared in the video content. 

While the law sets limits to ensure these requirements do not apply to every baby video posted on YouTube (the law only applies to vloggers who earn at least $1,250 each month from their image and video content), we will closely watch how this new law affects California’s ballooning influencer industry.  (At last check, the still-dominant cat-video production industry remains unaffected.)
SB 988

Wiener (D-San Francisco)
New Obligations for Independent Contracting.  The new “Freelance Worker Protection Act” will impose new requirements on persons who engage independent contractors and pay them at least $250.  (The law will not apply to individuals “hiring services for the personal benefit of themselves, their family members, or their homestead.”)

The new (unwaivable) requirements include paying the contractor on or before the date specified in the contract (or, if no specified date, no more than 30 days after completion of services) and that contracts must be in writing and retained by the hiring party for at least four years.
SB 1100

Portantino (D-Burbank)
No Driver’s License Requirement in Job Postings.  This new law will amend the FEHA to prohibit an employer from requiring an applicant to possess a driver’s license, unless the employer reasonably expects that driving is one of the job’s functions and that alternative forms of transportation (e.g., rideshares, carpools, cycling) are insufficient for that function.
SB 1105

Padilla (D-San Diego)
Paid Sick Leave Expansion.  This law will mandate that employers permit agricultural employees to use paid sick days to avoid smoke, heat, or flooding conditions caused by a state of emergency.
SB 1137

Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles)
Intersectional Anti-Discrimination.  This new law, as we have previously reported, clarifies that FEHA prohibits discrimination not only on the basis of one protected characteristic but also on the basis of the combination of two or more protected characteristics.

We will continue to monitor the application and enforcement of these new laws and provide relevant updates as needed.

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Photo of Tony Oncidi Tony Oncidi

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including…

Anthony J. Oncidi is the co-chair of the Labor & Employment Law Department and heads the West Coast Labor & Employment group in the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Tony represents employers and management in all aspects of labor relations and employment law, including litigation and preventive counseling, wage and hour matters, including class actions, wrongful termination, employee discipline, Title VII and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, executive employment contract disputes, sexual harassment training and investigations, workplace violence, drug testing and privacy issues, Sarbanes-Oxley claims and employee raiding and trade secret protection. A substantial portion of Tony’s practice involves the defense of employers in large class actions, employment discrimination, harassment and wrongful termination litigation in state and federal court as well as arbitration proceedings, including FINRA matters.

Tony is recognized as a leading lawyer by such highly respected publications and organizations as the Los Angeles Daily JournalThe Hollywood Reporter, and Chambers USA, which gives him the highest possible rating (“Band 1”) for Labor & Employment.  According to Chambers USA, clients say Tony is “brilliant at what he does… He is even keeled, has a high emotional IQ, is a great legal writer and orator, and never gives up.” Other clients report:  “Tony has an outstanding reputation” and he is “smart, cost effective and appropriately aggressive.” Tony is hailed as “outstanding,” particularly for his “ability to merge top-shelf lawyerly advice with pragmatic business acumen.” He is highly respected in the industry, with other commentators lauding him as a “phenomenal strategist” and “one of the top employment litigators in the country.”

“Tony is the author of the treatise titled Employment Discrimination Depositions (Juris Pub’g 2020; www.jurispub.com), co-author of Proskauer on Privacy (PLI 2020), and, since 1990, has been a regular columnist for the official publication of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Tony has been a featured guest on Fox 11 News and CBS News in Los Angeles. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading national media outlets such as The National Law JournalBloomberg News, The New York Times, and Newsweek and Time magazines. Tony is a frequent speaker on employment law topics for large and small groups of employers and their counsel, including the Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), PIHRA, the National CLE Conference, National Business Institute, the Employment Round Table of Southern California (Board Member), the Council on Education in Management, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the State Bar of California, the California Continuing Education of the Bar Program and the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills Bar Associations. He has testified as an expert witness regarding wage and hour issues as well as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and has served as a faculty member of the National Employment Law Institute. He has served as an arbitrator in an employment discrimination matter.

Tony is an appointed Hearing Examiner for the Los Angeles Police Commission Board of Rights and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law and a guest lecturer at USC Law School and a guest lecturer at UCLA Law School.

Photo of Gregory Knopp Gregory Knopp

Gregory (Greg) Knopp is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department in the Los Angeles office.

Greg defends companies in class and collective actions and other complex disputes. He has argued successfully before state and federal courts across the country and…

Gregory (Greg) Knopp is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department in the Los Angeles office.

Greg defends companies in class and collective actions and other complex disputes. He has argued successfully before state and federal courts across the country and has obtained dismissals of class actions in dozens of high-profile, highly consequential matters.

Greg’s clients range from entertainment companies to prominent retailers to professional sports leagues. He has also worked with financial services and other professional services firms, along with clients in the technology, transportation and healthcare spaces. All look to Greg for his ability to quickly spot legal issues and to determine strategies to maximize advantage.

With more than 20 years of experience in employment litigation, Greg has represented clients in a wide range of employment disputes involving wage and hour issues, issues specific to California employment law, sexual harassment, and arbitration compulsion.

Photo of Dixie Morrison Dixie Morrison

Dixie Morrison is an associate in the Labor & Employment Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. She is a member of the Discrimination, Harassment, & Title VII and the Labor-Management Relations practice groups.

Dixie assists clients across a…

Dixie Morrison is an associate in the Labor & Employment Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. She is a member of the Discrimination, Harassment, & Title VII and the Labor-Management Relations practice groups.

Dixie assists clients across a variety of industries in litigation and arbitration relating to wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, trade secrets, breach of contract, and whistleblower matters in both the single-plaintiff and class and collective action contexts. She also maintains an active traditional labor and collective bargaining practice and regularly counsels employers on a diverse range of workplace issues.

Dixie earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was the Executive Editor of Submissions for the Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law. Dixie received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Pomona College. Prior to law school, she served as a labor and economic policy aide in the United States Senate.