2017

Nearly 1,000 bills were presented to the California Governor for his signature this legislative session. Here are five bills signed by Governor Brown that California employers should be aware of:

Assembly Bill 168 – Prohibition on Requesting Salary History 
Assembly Bill 168 prohibits all California employers (including state and local governments) from seeking salary history information about an applicant for employment; however, applicants can voluntarily provide such information. The bill also requires an employer to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant upon reasonable request.

Senate Bill 63 – Expansion of Parental Leave to “Small” Employers
Senate Bill 63 expands the California Family Rights Act to permit eligible employees—those who have been employed with a company for 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours—to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid parental leave to bond with a new child to employers with 20 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite. The bill also prohibits retaliation against an employee for exercising the right to parental leave provided by the law. Previously, the law only applied to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite.

Assembly Bill 1008 – Statewide “Ban the Box”
Assembly Bill 1008 prohibits employers with more than 5 employees from asking about an applicant’s criminal history (on any employment application or otherwise) until a conditional offer of employment has been made. The bill requires employers who intend to deny an applicant a position of employment because of the applicant’s conviction history to make an “individualized assessment” of whether the conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the anticipated job duties.

Assembly Bill 450 – I.C.E. Enforcement in the Workplace
Assembly Bill 450 prohibits employers from voluntarily permitting an immigration enforcement agent to enter any nonpublic areas of a place of labor, unless required to do so under federal law or provided a judicial warrant by the applicable enforcement agency. The bill also imposes fines up to $10,000 per violation.

Assembly Bill 396 – Harassment Training
Assembly Bill 396 requires employers with 50 or more employees to include, as a component of the 2 hours of prescribed training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees, training inclusive of harassment based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. Such training must be completed within 6 months of the employee assuming a supervisory role and must be repeated every 2 years. 

For more information contact:

Gary E. Scalabrini
Gibbs Giden Locher Turner Senet & Wittbrodt LLP 
1880 Century Park East 12th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
email: gscalabrini@gibbsgiden.com

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