Legislature Rushes to Meet End of Session Deadline
The California Legislature is back from summer recess and is preparing to send hundreds of bills to the Governor before it wraps up business on August 31st. Governor Brown will have until September 30th to sign or veto all measures that make it to his desk this year. CELA is working hard to push our sponsored and priority measures over the finish line this month, including several bills to strengthen sexual harassment protections, promote pay equity, and limit forced arbitration. We hope to build on an early legislative victory from last month when Governor Brown signed AB 2282, a CELA co-sponsored bill, into law. The bill will make clear that prior salary cannot be used as a factor, by itself or in combination with other factors, to justify a gender or race wage differential under the California Equal Pay Act.
In these last few weeks of session, we are also keeping a close watch on last minute attempts to weaken workers’ rights or their ability to enforce them. For example, on June 20, six dozen business groups sent a letter to Governor Brown and lawmakers pushing to overturn or stall the recent Supreme Court ruling, Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles, which adopted a new “ABC test” for determining employee status. With the help of our labor allies and democratic leaders in the legislature, the Dynamex decision should be safe from business attacks, at least for this year’s legislative session.
And while we are usually always on the same side as labor, we were forced to oppose a labor-backed bill that was introduced late in June. The bill is sponsored by the California Conference of Carpenters and would allow exempt workers in the construction industry to waive their rights under PAGA action through a collective bargaining agreement, if certain conditions are met. Citing specific cases that imposed significant penalties on their union contractors, the proponents argued that PAGA “has led to the unintended consequence of significant legal abuse.” Therefore, the goal of the bill is to provide “a private sector process to resolve disputes, improve working conditions, and enhance productivity without costly litigation.” CELA is opposing the bill along with the Consumer Attorneys of California and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, but the bill has continued to advance because of support from democratic leadership and the governor. We are continuing to work with the proponents to see how we may be able to limit the impact of this specific legislation, as well as similar legislation moving forward.
For more information about CELA’s priority bills and bills we are tracking, visit www.cela.org/legislation or email mariko@cela.org.
This year, CELA’s legislative priorities include:
SB 1300 
(Jackson) strengthens our sexual harassment laws under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Passed the Senate; Awaiting Passage in the Assembly.
Through comprehensive fixes to the FEHA, SB 1300:
- Provides statutory guidance on the “severe or pervasive” legal standard for sexual harassment claims, to ensure that the standard is consistently and fairly applied to protect victims of sexual harassment.
- Prohibits employers from forcing workers to release their claims under FEHA in exchange for a raise or bonus, or as a condition of employment or continued employment.
- Bans non-disparagement agreements that deny the employee the right to disclose information about unlawful acts in the workplace, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment.
SB 1038 
(Leyva) provides that, like claims for harassment, individuals may also be held personally liable for retaliating against an individual, as prohibited under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. This bill will discourage individuals from perpetrating retaliation by holding them personally accountable if they go after those who are trying to exercise their legal rights under FEHA. Status: Passed the Senate; Awaiting Passage in the Assembly.
AB1870 (Reyes, Waldron, Friedman) extends the filing deadline for employment claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act from 1 year to 3 years. Status: Passed the Assembly; Awaiting Passage in the Senate.
AB 3080 
(Gonzalez Fletcher) prohibits employers from requiring workers to sign an arbitration agreement as a condition of employment and from retaliating against workers who refuse to sign an arbitration agreement. Status: Passed the Assembly; Awaiting Passage in the Senate.
AB 3109 (Stone) Makes any provision in a contract or settlement agreement void and unenforceable if it waives a party’s right to testify in an administrative, legislative, or judicial proceeding concerning alleged criminal conduct or sexual harassment or if it constitutes a substantial restraint on a party’s right to seek employment or reemployment in any lawful occupation or profession. Status: Passed the Assembly; Passed the Senate; Awaiting Assembly Concurrence on Senate Amendments.
SB 224 (Jackson) amends the sexual harassment protections under the Unruh Civil Rights Act to include an investor, elected official, lobbyist, director, and producer among those listed persons who may be liable to a plaintiff for sexual harassment. Status: Passed the Senate; Awaiting Passage in the Assembly.
SB 2282 (Eggman) clarifies that prior salary, even in combination with legitimate factors, cannot justify any pay differential under the California equal pay act. Status: Signed into law!
SB 1284 (Jackson) requires California employers with 100 or more employees to submit a pay data report annually to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, outlining the compensation and hours worked of its employees by gender, race, ethnicity and job category. Status: Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2613 (Reyes) allows a worker to recover a $200 penalty for every paycheck that is paid late. The bill would allow the worker or the Labor Commissioner to recover the penalty through an administrative hearing or civil action. The bill would also clarify that liquidated damages under Section 1194.2 are due as soon as wage are not paid on time. Status: Held in the Assembly
AB 2946 (Kalra) extends the statute of limitations for retaliation claims under Section 98.7 from 6 months to 3 years and would provide attorneys’ fees for prevailing plaintiffs under Section 1102.5. Status: Held in the Assembly
For a full list of bills we are tracking, click here.