Worker rights: Workplace Technology Accountability Act.

(1) Existing law requires state agencies to develop and implement a telecommuting plan, as specified, and to evaluate their telecommuting programs. This bill would require agencies to periodically update their plans to respond to changing technology and its impact on worker well-being. (2) Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) , grants consumers various rights with respect to personal information that is collected or sold by a business, as defined. The CCPA exempts, until January 1, 2023, personal information that is collected and used by a business solely within the context of having an emergency contact on file, administering specified benefits, or a person's role or former role as a job applicant to, an employee of, owner of, director of, officer of, medical staff member of, or an independent contractor of that business. The CCPA declares the intent of the act to further the constitutional right to privacy and provides that in the event of conflict between the act and other laws, the provisions of law providing for the greatest protection for the right of privacy for consumers will prevail. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. This bill would impose various duties on employers and their vendors regarding the ability to collect and use worker data, as defined. Specifically, the bill would confer the right to workers to know, review, correct, and secure data collected from them by their employer and would limit the ability of an employer to use that data beyond specified purposes. The bill would impose various limitations on the collection and use of data via electronic monitoring, would impose limitations on the purpose and effect of using Automatic Decision Systems, as defined, and would require employers to prepare and publish impact assessments for the use of various technology. (3) Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which is composed of various departments responsible for protecting and promoting the rights and interests of workers in California, including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, led by the Labor Commissioner, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Division of Workers' Compensation, within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to establish and maintain a field enforcement unit in order to ensure that minimum labor standards are adequately enforced. Existing law also establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to investigate and prosecute unlawful employment practices. This bill would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency in coordination with its various departments and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to enforce the worker data protections created by this bill. Specifically, the bill would impose the primary duty of administration and enforcement on the field enforcement unit under the Labor Commissioner and would require the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to investigate and prosecute worker complaints of violations of these provisions in coordination with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The bill would require the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to adopt regulations to administer and enforce these provisions, including regulations providing for the coordination of enforcement by the divisions within the Department of Industrial Relations, including the Division of Occupational Health and Safety and the Division of Workers' Compensation. To advise on the adoption of regulations, the bill would require the Labor Commissioner to convene a committee of stakeholders, including representatives from the Department of Industrial Relations, as specified, and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The bill would establish penalties and create a civil cause of action for violation of these provisions.