Labor & Employment

Existing law requires a 3-part test, commonly known as the "ABC" test, to determine if workers are employees or independent contractors for purposes of the Labor Code, the Unemployment Insurance Code, and the wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission. Under the ABC test, a person providing labor or services for remuneration is considered an employee rather than an independent contractor unless the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, the person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws, including worker classification. Existing law exempts specified occupations and business relationships from the application of the ABC test described above. Existing law, instead, provides that these exempt relationships are governed by the multifactor test previously adopted in the case of S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (1989) 48 Cal.3d 341. These exemptions include services provided by a licensed manicurist, subject to the manicurist meeting specified conditions. Existing law makes this exemption for licensed manicurists inoperative on January 1, 2025. This bill would delete the January 1, 2025, inoperative date, thereby making licensed manicurists subject to this exemption indefinitely.

Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establishes the position of Deputy Secretary for Climate within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to be appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate, for the purpose of assisting in the oversight of California's workforce transition to a sustainable and equitable carbon-neutral economy. Existing law requires the deputy secretary to perform specified duties, including creating or coordinating programs with other state agencies to retrain and upskill workers for, among other jobs, clean energy jobs, as specified. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a zero-emission vehicle workforce development pilot project and a Clean Energy Workforce Training Council, as provided.

Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations with enforcement of the act. Existing law prohibits an employer from laying off or discharging an employee for refusing to perform work that would violate prescribed safety standards where the violation would create a real and apparent hazard to the employee or other employees. Existing law defines "employee" for purposes of those provisions to include a domestic work employee, except as specified. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to, among other things, allow an employee, acting in good faith, to refuse to perform a tasked assigned by an employer if it would violate those prescribed safety standards or if the employee has a reasonable apprehension that the performance of the assigned task would result in injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would make the employee's refusal contingent on the employee or another employee, if reasonably practical, having communicated or attempted to notify the employer of the safety or health risk and the employer having failed to provide a response that is reasonably calculated to allay the employee's concerns. The bill would require the employer to pay the employee full wages during their scheduled work hours until, among other things, the employee can reasonably conclude that the task will no longer result in the risk of serious injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would prohibit an employer from using an employee's refusal to perform an assigned task as grounds for any disciplinary action, and would make certain retaliation protections applicable to the bill's provisions. The bill would delete the provision defining "employee" to include a domestic work employee.

Existing federal law governing immigration authorizes the importation of an alien as a nonimmigrant agricultural worker, known as an H-2A worker, if specified requirements are met, including that the employer furnish housing, as provided. Existing state law, the Employee Housing Act, requires a person operating employee housing, as defined, to obtain a permit to operate that housing from the agency that enforces the act, which can either be the Department of Housing and Community Development or a city, county, or city and county that assumes responsibility for enforcing the act. The act requires the enforcement agency to annually enter and inspect all employee housing for compliance with the act, as provided. This bill would require, for employee housing that houses an H-2A worker, the enforcement agency to conduct the above-described inspection in person, as defined, and to post the results of that inspection on its internet website. The bill would prohibit a person operating employee housing that houses an H-2A worker from receiving a permit to operate employee housing without passing that inspection. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, consisting of various offices and entities, including the office of the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and the California Workforce Development Board. This bill would establish the Essential Worker Commission within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to review, investigate, and analyze issues relating to essential workers in the state, including workplace safety and health protections and wages and benefits for undocumented workers. The bill would require the Essential Worker Commission, based on that review, investigation, and analysis, to establish the Essential Worker Legal Work Program to provide essential workers with legal pathways to remain in California and work lawfully.

Existing law sets wage, hour, meal break requirements, and other working conditions for employees and requires an employer to pay overtime wages to an employee who works in excess of a workday or workweek. Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations and provides that one of its functions is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. Existing law establishes specific labor protections for sheepherders and goat herders, as defined, relating to wages, meal and rest periods, lodging, and other conditions of employment. Existing law imposes civil penalties, as prescribed, for violations of these provisions. Existing law, the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016, establishes a schedule that phases in overtime requirements for persons employed in an agricultural occupation, as defined. The act, beginning January 1, 2022, among other things, requires that any work performed by a person employed in an agricultural occupation in excess of 12 hours per day be compensated at a rate of no less than twice the employee's regular rate of pay. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to update a specific wage order of the Industrial Welfare Commission governing agricultural occupations to be consistent with the act, except in specified circumstances in which the existing wage order offers greater protections. The act defines the term "employed in an agricultural occupation" for these purposes as having the same meaning as in that wage order. For purposes of the Phase-In Overtime for Agricultural Workers Act of 2016, this bill would create an exception from the above-described definition for sheepherders or goat herders, as defined in that order.

Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law authorizes the division, which is headed by the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state, the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. This bill would generally regulate the use of workplace surveillance tools and an employer's use of worker data. The bill would, among other things, require an employer, at least 30 days before introducing a workplace surveillance tool, to provide a worker who will be affected a written notice that includes, among other things, a description of the worker data to be collected, the intended purpose of the workplace surveillance tool, and how this form of worker surveillance is necessary to meet that purpose. The bill would define "employer" to include public employers, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from transferring, selling, disclosing, or licensing worker data to a vendor, unless the vendor is under contract to analyze or interpret the worker data and the contract includes certain terms. The bill would prohibit an employer from using certain workplace surveillance tools, including a workplace surveillance tool that incorporates facial, gait, or emotion recognition technology, except as specified. The bill would also prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool to infer specified categories of information about a worker, including, among others, their immigration status, veteran status, ancestral history, religious or political beliefs, disability status, criminal record, or credit history. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions, would authorize an employee to bring a civil action for specified remedies for a violation of the bill's provisions, and would authorize a public prosecutor to enforce the provisions. The bill would subject an employer who violates the bill's provisions to a civil penalty of $500 for each violation. The bill would define various terms for purposes of its provisions.

Existing law gives public school employees the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board and gives the board specified powers and duties relating to employer-employee relations. Existing law authorizes the board to conduct studies relating to employer-employee relations, including the collection, analysis, and making available of data relating to wages, benefits, and employment practices in public and private employment, and to recommend legislation. This bill would specifically authorize the board to conduct employer-employee relations studies concerning the impact on public employees of net-zero carbon emissions initiatives, including collecting, analyzing, and making available related data.

Existing law creates in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency the Department of Industrial Relations to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would require the department to establish the California Public Infrastructure Task Force, composed of representatives of specified agencies to promote employment in public infrastructure projects for underrepresented communities and to provide compliance assistance to contractors and subcontractors in public infrastructure projects regarding their nondiscrimination obligations, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to administer and enforce various laws relating to employment and working conditions. This bill would require a business, as defined, to annually provide a notice to the department of all the workplace surveillance tools the employer is using in the workplace. The bill would require the notice to include, among other information, a list of the workplace surveillance tools being used that surveil employees and the categories of information being collected on employees by the workplace surveillance. The bill would also require a business to send the notice to employees and any union that represents employees of the business. The bill would make a business that violates these provisions subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation. This bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2029, compiling the above-described notices provided by businesses. The bill would require that the report include, among other requirements, a breakdown of notices by industry type.