California Private Sector Employment Legislation Update: September 12, 2013

It's all over now but for the gubernatorial pen strokes - or not.

In the usual last-minute rush, the California legislature this week ended its 2013 session by passing more than 400 bills and sending them to Governor Jerry Brown for signing or vetoing.

The major non-employment bills considered in the last week dealt with prison overcrowding, immigration (drivers' licenses, lawyer admissions, and jury service for undocumented residents), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform, gun control, public school student testing, and regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

In the private sector employment arena, the key bills awaiting the Governor's decision provide for a minimum wage increase, establish new causes of action and penalties for discrimination or retaliation on the basis of immigration status (which may set up conflicts with the federal government's policies on that subject), protect victims of stalking, create a right to overtime for domestic workers, and add military and veteran status to the protected categories specified in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

The Governor has 30 days to sign or not sign (veto) bills passed this month.

The Major Private Sector Employment Bills Passed Last Week

AB 10 (last amended September 11) would amend section 1182.12 of the Labor Code to increase the minimum wage on and after July 1, 2014, to not less than $9 per hour, and to further increase the minimum wage, on and after January 1, 2016, to not less than $10 per hour. The Governor has said he will sign this bill. AB 263 (last amended September 3) would, among other things, add Labor Code section 1019 to prohibit specified "unfair immigration-related practices," increase civil penalties to as high as $10,000 per employee per violation for any retaliation against an employee, authorize a private right of action for equitable relief, damages, and penalties, and require a court to order the appropriate government agencies to suspend or revoke an offending employer's business license. The bill would expand the protected conduct to include a written or oral complaint by an employee that he or she is owed unpaid wages. The bill would also expand the prohibited actions to include preventing an employee from, or retaliating against an employee for, providing information to, or testifying before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry. The bill is double-jointed1with SB 496. SB 666 (last amended September 4) would add sections 494.6 and 6103.7 to the Business and Professions Code, amend sections 98.6 and 1102.5 of, and add section 244 to, the Labor Code, to subject specified business licenses to suspension or revocation, with a specified exception, if the licensee has been determined by the Labor Commissioner or the court to have violated specified law and the court or Labor Commissioner has taken into consideration any harm such suspension or revocation would cause to employees of the licensee, as well as the good faith efforts of the licensee to resolve any alleged violations after receiving notice. The bill would subject a licensee of an agency within the Department of Consumer Affairs who has been found by the Labor Commissioner or the court to have violated specified law to disciplinary action by his or her respective licensing agency. The bill would make it a cause for suspension, disbarment, or other discipline for any member of the State Bar to report suspected immigration status or threaten to report suspected immigration status of a witness or party to a civil or administrative action or his or her family member, as defined, to a federal, state, or local agency because the witness or party exercises or has exercised a right related to his or her employment. The bill would also prohibit an employer from retaliating or taking adverse action against any employee or applicant for employment because the employee or applicant has engaged in protected conduct. The bill would expand the protected conduct to include a written or oral complaint by an employee that he or she is owed unpaid wages. The bill would subject an employer to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation of these provisions. Existing law entitles an employee to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and benefits if the employee has been discharged...