Labor & Employment

Existing law, the State Civil Service Act, regulates employment with the state and vests in the Department of Human Resources all powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system. Existing law, except as specified, authorizes adverse action to be taken against any employee, or person whose name appears on any employment list, for specified causes of discipline. This bill, except as specified, would prohibit an employee from being disciplined for cause unless the conduct constituting cause is reasonably related to the employee's fitness, qualifications, or ability to perform the duties of the position. The bill would prohibit its provisions from being construed to limit any procedural or substantive protections otherwise provided by statute, regulation, or memorandum of understanding. This bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop and implement, no later than January 1, 2030, an employee training or diversion program as an available alternative to monetary disciplinary penalties for any correctional peace officer employed by a department, division, board, or commission under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The bill would require the appointing authority to consider whether an employee is eligible for participation in the program before imposing a monetary disciplinary penalty on the employee for any act or omission giving rise to a cause for discipline. The bill would authorize the appointing authority to impose more serious penalties if the nature and frequency of the conduct of the correctional peace officer constitutes serious and grave misconduct and the appointing authority states in writing the specific facts supporting that determination and documents why participation in the training or diversion program would be inappropriate. The bill would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, beginning on January 1, 2031, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes specified information about the program.

Existing law authorizes any employer or authorized bargaining representative, as specified, whose employee has suffered unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence that can reasonably be construed to be carried out or to have been carried out at the workplace, to seek a temporary restraining order and an order after hearing on behalf of the employee and other employees at the workplace, as described. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2028, allow any party or witness to a petition for a restraining order to appear remotely at a hearing and would prohibit any fee for appearing remotely. The bill would require the court of each county to develop rules and instructions for such remote appearances and post them on its website. The bill would also, commencing on January 1, 2028, require courts to allow filings related to such protective orders to be submitted electronically, as specified. The bill would make conforming changes. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 1961 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1961 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law prohibits an employer or any other person from engaging in, or directing another person to engage in, an unfair immigration-related practice against a person for the purpose of, or with the intent of, retaliating against any person for exercising a right protected under state labor and employment laws or under a local ordinance applicable to employees, as specified. Existing law authorizes a civil action for equitable relief and damages or penalties, as specified, by an employee or other person who is the subject of an unfair immigration-related practice. This bill would expand the above-described prohibition to include retaliating against any person for exercising any right under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, as defined, and would prohibit preventing a person from exercising such a right. The bill would also prohibit an employer or any other person from engaging in any other conduct, related to any person's perceived immigration status, that would reasonably tend to dissuade a person from engaging in conduct that the person has a legal right to engage in under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees, or to induce a person to engage in conduct that the person has a legal right to abstain from under any local, state, or federal statute or regulation applicable to employees. The bill would make an employer or other person who violates these provisions liable for a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 per employee or person for each violation, as specified. The bill would also make related and conforming changes to these provisions.

(1) Existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education considering an applicant for a noncertificated position, and private schools considering an applicant for any position, to inquire with each school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school and diagnostic center operated by the department, and private school that previously employed the applicant, as required to be disclosed, as to whether the applicant, while previously employed by the school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school or diagnostic center operated by the department, or private school was the subject of any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, as defined, that were used to support a substantiated investigation. Existing law requires those entities, when responding to an inquiry as to whether it has made a report of egregious misconduct to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to also provide the inquiring entity with a copy of all relevant information that was used to support a substantiated investigation within its possession. This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, (A) requiring those inquiries and disclosures to be related to any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, instead of only those complaints, investigations, or discipline used to support a substantiated investigation, (B) requiring those entities to provide relevant evidence in addition to any information, as specified, (C) requiring the responses to inquiries described above to include reports of egregious misconduct submitted to the statewide data system described in paragraph (2) and other related employment history that has been submitted to the commission, as provided, (D) requiring those entities to also provide relevant evidence or information to the commission upon inquiry, and (E) requiring those entities to preserve evidence or information relating to a substantiated report of egregious misconduct, as specified. The bill would establish that a school employee may be subject to dismissal if the employee, while holding a previous position in a local educational agency or private school, was the subject of any credible complaints of, investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, that was reported to the statewide data system described in paragraph (2) and either the employer failed to disclose that information or the employee did not disclose their previous education employers, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2027, and contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute, to develop a statewide data system that includes information relating to investigations of allegations of egregious misconduct of individuals serving in a noncertificated position for a local educational agency, as defined, or in any position for a private school. Existing law requires local educational agency employers and private school employers, following both the start of, and completion of, an investigation of egregious misconduct, to submit notice to the statewide data system, as provided. Existing law requires substantiated reports of egregious misconduct and employee departures from employment during investigations to be recorded in the statewide data system and prohibits the recording in the statewide data system of investigations of egregious misconduct that result in an unfounded or inconclusive report, as provided. This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, (A) specifying that the statewide data system to be developed is specific to investigations of egregious misconduct, (B) revising the statewide data system's data fields, as specified, (C) revising the data that is to be submitted by local educational agencies and private schools and the processes for submitting and updating that data, as specified, and (D) specifying the role and responsibilities of the commission, local educational agencies, and private schools regarding the statewide data system by, among other things, (i) requiring the commission to develop a secure interface, as provided, and (ii) requiring local educational agencies and private schools to (I) request access to the statewide data system through the secure interface by May 1, 2027, (II) provide the commission with a designated email address for purposes of receiving notifications from the statewide data system, and (III) preserve all information or evidence related to substantiated reports of egregious misconduct that are notated in the statewide data system. The bill would also explicitly state that these provisions apply to merit districts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, among other things, provide that data contained in the statewide data system is not subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act and that specified rights under the Information Practices Act of 1977 do not apply to data maintained in the statewide data system that is personal information for purposes of that act. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would require a local educational agency or private school, upon receiving any credible complaint or other reason to believe that an employee has engaged in egregious misconduct, to conduct an investigation to determine whether the employee committed egregious misconduct. For local educational agencies, the bill would, among other things, (A) specify investigative timelines and (B) require the local educational agency to give the employee a reasonable opportunity to provide a statement and evidence to the investigator and, within 10 calendar days of the conclusion of the investigation, to serve upon the employee a written notice relating to the findings, as specified. The bill would require each private school to adopt, by July 1, 2027, a written employee investigation policy that includes, at a minimum, a description of the steps to be followed during those investigations, reasonable timelines for commencing and concluding those investigations, and the rights or responsibilities of the employer and employee relating to those investigations. The bill would require local educational agencies and private schools to complete the investigation regardless of whether the employee ends the employment relationship. The bill would explicitly state that these provisions apply to merit districts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires those local educational agencies and private school organizations that are responsible for employment, employee investigations, or hiring decisions to review the statewide data system to determine whether an investigation resulted in a substantiated report of egregious misconduct before hiring an individual for an applicable position. This bill would, among other things, require the statewide data system to be accessible only to commission employees for specified purposes and employees of local educational agencies and private schools that are responsible for employment, employee investigations, or hiring decisions, and would require all of those employees to keep information contained in the statewide data system confidential, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the commission to appoint a Committee of Credentials and requires allegations of acts or omissions for which adverse action may be taken against applicants or holders of teaching or services credentials to be presented to the committee. Existing law authorizes the committee to commence an initial review upon the receipt of any of a list of specified documents or information, including the receipt of a record of a substantiated report, and a record of a start of an investigation followed by a change in employment status during an investigation, entered into the statewide data system. Existing law authorizes the committee to commence a formal review, as specified, upon receipt of specified documents or information. This bill would, among other things, (A) additionally authorize the committee to commence a formal review upon the receipt of an entry in the statewide data system of a substantiated report or a record of a start of an investigation followed by a change in employment status during the investigation entered into the statewide data system, (B) authorize the commission to make inquiries and requests for production of information and records from local educational agencies and private schools for purposes of investigating substantiated reports of egregious misconduct submitted to the statewide data system, and (C) require an entry of a substantiated report of egregious misconduct that does not involve sexual misconduct with a minor or recurring conduct resulting in a pattern of misconduct to be presented to the Committee of Credentials for initial review within 4 years. Existing law authorizes the commission, for purposes of ascertaining the moral character and true identity of the holder of a credential or an applicant for a credential or the renewal of a credential after jurisdiction to commence an initial review has been established, to require the production of information, records, reports, and other data from any public agency, as provided. This bill would authorize the commission to also require the production of information, records, reports, and other data for those purposes from private schools. (4) Existing law authorizes the department to require employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors for the department and the state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as specified. This bill would instead require the department to require those background checks, as specified. Existing law requires any entity that has a contract with a local educational agency, as defined, to ensure that any employee who interacts with pupils has a valid criminal records summary. Existing law exempts entities from this requirement in an emergency or exceptional situation. If a pupil participates in services provided by a contractor as part of an independent study program, and the pupil is under the immediate supervision and control of the pupil's parent or guardian, existing law requires the local educational agency to either verify completion of a valid criminal records summary for all employees or ensure that the parent or guardian has signed a consent form. This bill would revise and recast these provisions by, among other things, expanding the requirement for a valid criminal records summary to any entity that has a contract with a local educational agency or the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department. The bill would extend the application of that requirement to any employee, including a subcontractor, who interacts with pupils or provides direct services to pupils, as provided. The bill would require, as a condition of the above-described exemption from this requirement for a valid criminal records summary, the entity's employee, including a subcontractor, to be within the immediate supervision and control of a school employee. The bill would, as applied to a pupil participating in an independent study program, instead require a local educational agency or the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department to verify the completion of a valid criminal records summary and remove the alternative of obtaining the consent form from the parent or guardian. The bill would also require a local educational agency and the department to include a requirement in contracts with these entities setting forth a termination clause for noncompliance with these requirements. This bill would separately require, on or before July 1, 2027, each governing board or body of a local educational agency, as defined, each private school, and the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department, when entering into a contract with any entity for specified services to pupils to (A) ensure that the contract terms and conditions include, among other things, the above-described requirements concerning background checks or, for private schools, other specified requirements concerning background checks and (B) enforce those terms. The bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2027, each governing board or body of a local educational agency, the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department, and private schools, when entering into a contract with any entity for specified services to pupils to ensure that the contract terms and conditions include, among other things, (A) a requirement that as part of qualifying to be a contractor or subcontractor for a local educational agency, the department, or a private school, the entity disclose any credible complaints of, or discipline for, reportable conduct, defined to include specified offenses, by the entity's employees, including subcontractors, who will be providing the services, as provided, and (B) a requirement on the local educational agency, the department, or the private school to check the names and pertinent identifying information provided by a contracting entity against the statewide data system or pursuant to alternate procedures, as specified. If any credible complaint of egregious misconduct by any contractor or subcontractor, or employee, including a subcontractor, of any contractor or subcontractor, performing services for the local educational agency, the department, or the private school is made or received, the bill would require the local educational agency, the department, or the private school to make specified notifications. (5) Existing law requires private schools, among other entities, to provide annual training, using an online training module provided by the State Department of Social Services or an alternative training, to their employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated reporters, as defined, on the mandated reporting requirements related to child abuse, as provided. Existing law requires this alternative training module to be approved by the liability insurance provider used by the private school, as provided. This bill would require the alternative training module for private schools to be approved by the private school's governing authority instead of by the private school's liability insurance provider. (6) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, entitles an employee who works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment to paid sick days. Under existing law, an employee accrues paid sick days at a rate of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked, subject to certain use, accrual, and yearly carryover limitations. This bill would require specified fire departments to provide a paid leave of absence of up to 26 weeks to an active firefighting member who requests leave because the firefighter is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition, as provided. The bill would apply to an active firefighting member who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the fire department in the 12-month period before the date on which the paid leave begins and would require the leave to be with full pay, except as specified, at the firefighter's regular rate of pay set forth in a collective bargaining agreement and in accordance with their normal pay schedule. The bill would require all benefits to continue to accrue during the paid leave, as specified, and would require a firefighter returning from the paid leave to be restored to their prior position, as provided. The bill would request a fire department of the University of California to comply with these provisions.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state under the administration of community college district governing boards. Existing law prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on the basis of specified attributes, including, among others, disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, or immigration status, in a program or activity conducted by a postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid, including, among others, community colleges. This bill would require the board of governors, within one year of appropriation, to enter into a contract with a managing entity, as defined, to administer on behalf of the California Community Colleges external resolution services for civil rights compliance, including, among other services, developing and recommending a nondiscrimination policy, assisting the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges in developing an annual campus discrimination prevention training program for students and employees, and addressing grievances and complaints alleging discrimination, as specified. The bill would also require the board of governors to approve the nondiscrimination policy recommended by the managing entity and require the governing boards of community college districts to adopt the policy, as provided. The bill would further require community college districts, within one year of appropriation, to designate a staff person as a civil rights coordinator tasked with specified duties, including, among others, responding to complaints alleging discrimination and maintaining a record system of files on those complaints, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill, for the 2026–27 fiscal year, would appropriate $100,000,000 from the General Fund to the California Community Colleges to fund external resolution services for civil rights compliance provided by the managing entity, as provided.

Existing law establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law requires the board to assist the Governor in specified activities for this purpose. Existing law requires each local workforce development board to develop and submit to the Governor a comprehensive 4-year local plan and to establish at least one full service one-stop career center, as specified. This bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to develop a workplace rights curriculum in partnership with subject matter experts and would require the local boards to ensure provision of a workplace rights training consistent with that curriculum to individuals receiving services through the California workforce system. The bill would require each local plan to include a description of how the local board plans to comply with this training requirement. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to provide this training to individuals receiving services through the one-stop system, as specified. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board, in partnership with the Employment Development Department and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to ensure local compliance with these provisions. By imposing new requirements on local workforce development boards, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law generally prohibits an employer from employing an employee for a work period of more than 5 hours per day without providing the employee with a meal period of not less than 30 minutes. Existing law creates exceptions from this prohibition for employees in specified occupations, including employees of an electrical corporation, a gas corporation, a water corporation, or a local publicly owned electric utility covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement meeting certain conditions. Existing law charges the Labor Commissioner with enforcement of these provisions. This bill would also create an exception from the above-described prohibition for employees who perform building maintenance work as a stationary engineer, as defined, covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement meeting certain conditions.

The Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for the purpose of providing pension benefits to specified public employees and prescribes the rights and duties of members and annuitants of the system. PERL vests management and control of PERS in the Board of Administration. PERL authorizes the board, during the course of an audit, to require each state employer, school employer, including each school district represented by a school employer, and contracting agency to provide information as deemed necessary by the board to determine eligibility for, and the correctness of, retirement benefits, reportable compensation, enrollment in, and reinstatement to this system. PERL requires the board, before initiating an audit, to notify the subject of the audit of the estimated time required to completion. This bill would require the board, before initiating an audit, to list specific information about the audit on its internet website and provide written notice to the affected state employer, school employer, including each school district represented by a school employer, or contracting agency. The bill would specify the distribution of the notice, the final audit report, and a list of members affected by the final audit report, between the board, a state employer, school employer, or contracting agency, and any exclusive representative.

Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. That law requires the Teachers' Retirement Board to administer STRS and requires employers and employees to make contributions to STRS based on the member's creditable compensation. Existing law, among other things, defines "position subject to membership" to mean prescribed positions at various educational institutions, including, among other positions, a position at a county office of education or school district, not including a charter school, where the position requires the holding of a valid credential, license, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services, as prescribed. This bill would expand the above-described definition to also include permitholders. The bill would additionally include as a "position subject to membership" a comparable position at a charter school eligible to receive state apportionment that is performing, directing, coordinating, supervising, or administering one or more prescribed functions, as specified. Existing law requires the board to determine the date that specified provisions related to this definition become operative based on when STRS has the capacity to implement those provisions and to post that date on the internet website of STRS no later than July 1, 2027. This bill would delete that requirement and would, instead, make this definition of "position subject to membership" operative on July 1, 2027. Existing law creates the Teachers' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions. By expanding the category of positions subject to membership under STRS and affecting the contributions to the retirement fund, the bill would make an appropriation.