Employment.

Existing law provides that an employer, with certain exceptions, may not order a mass layoff, relocation, or termination, as defined, at a covered establishment without giving 60 days' prior written notice to employees and the Employment Development Department and other local agencies, as well as complying with specified federal guidelines. This bill would increase the layoff notice period from 60 to 90 days. This bill would require employers, when notice is given, to provide employees with information regarding benefits and services available to them once the notice of layoff is given. This bill would also require employers that give notice of a mass layoff, relocation, or termination to provide sufficient meeting space for the provision of rapid response activity, as defined, and to allow providers of rapid response activity services and affected employees to meet for not less than one hour for such services to be provided. Existing law provides that an employer who fails to comply with the layoff notice requirements may be subject to civil penalties, including backpay, and liability under civil actions brought by employees unless the employer can demonstrate specified exemptions. This bill would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to maintain a guide of benefits and services that may be available to employees who are the subject of a layoff, including unemployment assistance and COBRA information, and to transmit the guide to an employer who gives notice of an impending layoff, and to post the guide on the agency's Internet Web site. This bill would also require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to maintain a guide for employers containing development benefits and services, including trade adjustment assistance and tax credits, that could be used to avert mass layoffs or relocations of workforce employees and to transmit the guide to an employer who gives notice of an impending layoff, and to post the guide on the agency's Internet Web site. This bill would provide that up to 10% of the civil penalties for employers who violate these provisions be used by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to fund the their new duties under this bill.