SHRM Tulare/Kings is back with an update on the latest status of pending legislation affecting California employers.  The legislature returned from summer recess on August 5, 2024, and will be pressed for time to pass all bills by the August 31st deadline to send them to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.  For tracking purposes, we have identified the top bills that – if passed – would have the most significant impact on California employers. These bills would:

• Regulate the use of Automated Decision Tools and Artificial Intelligence [AB 2930] This bill is a part of recent trend reflecting increased concern regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Automated Decision Tools (ADTs) in ways that may discriminate against workers, students, participants in the criminal justice system, and other users of public services. It is very similar to AB 331, which was introduced in 2023 and passed several Assembly committees on party-line votes before stalling in the Appropriations Committee. The bill would create a new chapter in the Business and Professions Code to regulate ADTs and impose requirements on both the users and developers of such tools. While employers who use ADTs are covered by this bill, the scope of the proposed new law is not limited to the employment context. California employers thus may also need to consider possible impacts of this bill on their use of ADTs with respect to consumers and other members of the public in addition to their employees.

• Expand protections for time off to victims of crime and violence [AB 2499] Presently, sections 230 and 230.1 of the Labor Code prohibit employers from discharging or discriminating against an employee for taking time off for specified purposes that include serving on a jury, appearing in court if the employee is a victim of a crime, or obtaining or attempting to obtain certain victim relief; and prohibit discrimination because an employee is a victim of a crime or abuse. The existing law imposes additional requirements on employers with 25 or more employees, prohibiting them from discharging or discriminating against victims who take time off to seek medical attention, obtain services related to crime or abuse, or participate in safety planning and other actions to increase safety from future crime or abuse. Additionally, the existing law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to certain victims. This bill would essentially repeal Labor Code Sections 230 and 230.1 and recast these rules as unlawful employment practices within the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) as new Government Code section 12945.8, which would make violations of these rules a violation of FEHA, and place enforcement in the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Division (rather than the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement) thus changing the procedures and remedies available for a violation.

• Prohibiting Mandatory Employee Attendance at Certain Employer-Sponsored Meetings [SB 399] Entitled the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act,” this bill would enact new Labor Code section 1137 to preclude an employer from discharging, discriminating against, retaliating against, or taking adverse action against an employee (or threatening to take any such action) because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer’s opinions about religious or political matters.

• Eliminate employers’ ability to require employees to use PTO before paid family leave [AB 2123] Existing law authorizes an employer to require an employee to take up to two weeks of earned but unused vacation before, and as a condition of, the employee’s initial receipt of family temporary disability insurance benefits during any twelve-month period in which the employee is eligible for these benefits. This bill would eliminate the authorization and related provisions of the existing law.

• Expand employer responsibility to issue COBRA Notices [AB 2494] The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide former employees continuation of benefits and provide notice of continued benefit eligibility upon certain qualifying events (e.g., termination, etc.). Depending on the terms of the health plan, this notice may be provided by the health plan administrator or the employer. Citing concerns that notice from the health plan administrator may be delayed and result in a gap in coverage, this bill would require all employers, whether public or private, to provide notice to the employee upon termination or a reduction in hours that would otherwise require COBRA notice, stating that the employee may be eligible for coverage under COBRA and that the employee will receive a notice from the plan administrator or group health plan. Specifically, under new Labor Code section 2808.05, employers (whether public or private) would be required to provide this notice via either hard copy or email if the employee elects to receive electronic statements or materials as specified. The deadline to provide the notification would be the same day on which the employee’s final wages are due.

 To stay up to date with all things HR, SHRM Tulare/Kings invites you to attend its annual conference on September 26, 2024.  Please visit www.shrmtularekings.org for registration and additional details.