Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, through its Office of Migrant Services, to assist in the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of migrant farm labor centers and authorizes the Director of Housing and Community Development to contract with school districts, housing authorities, health agencies, and other appropriate local public and private nonprofit agencies for the procurement or construction of housing or shelter and to obtain services for migratory agricultural workers. Existing law establishes the Napa County Farmworker Centers Account to be administered by the department, as specified, to assist in the financing, maintenance, and operation of the Napa County Housing Authority's Farmworker Centers for year-round use by migrant and nonmigrant farm labor employees. Existing law requires the department to award, annually, up to $250,000 in matching funds to the Napa County Housing Authority upon demonstration that the Napa County Housing Authority is capable of continuing to effectively serve the housing needs of migrant or other farmworkers in the County of Napa and requires the Napa County Housing Authority, to be eligible for funding, to provide equal or greater funds from local sources. Existing law requires the department to use funds allocated from the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, as provided. This bill would instead require the department to award, annually, up to $500,000 in matching funds to the Napa County Housing Authority upon demonstration that the Napa County Housing Authority is capable of continuing to effectively serve the housing needs of migrant or other farmworkers in the County of Napa. The bill would require all funds awarded under its provisions to comply with specified prohibitions against state funding, loans, grants, or other state subsidies for an employer that employs certain workers, as provided, and would require that employer to reimburse the state or state agency that provided the funding, as provided. The bill would, instead of requiring the department to use specified funds allocated from the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, provide that this bill is not operative until funding is appropriated by the Legislature in the Budget Act or any other measure for the purposes of the bill. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Napa.
Existing law authorizes school districts that maintain high schools to establish work experience programs for the purpose of providing pupils with instruction in skills, attitudes, and understandings necessary for success in employment. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to coordinate the development, on a cyclical basis, of model curriculum standards for required courses of study, including a career technical education course of study for pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as specified. This bill would, at the next revision of the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum Standards, require the State Department of Education to consider adding content on the role of youth caregivers within the Personal Care and Services career pathway, as provided. The bill would require, by July 1, 2028, the department to provide guidance for the implementation of the Personal Care and Services career pathway, and would explicitly authorize certain types of guidance, including (1) a focus on skills specific to Personal Care and Services occupations, including, but not limited to, in-home caregiving for youth caregivers supporting household family members, and (2) eligibility for youth caregivers caring for a family member in the family member's home for credits through work experience education programs, as provided.
Under existing law, it is the public policy of this state to encourage the utilization of apprenticeship as a form of on-the-job training, when such training is cost effective in developing skills needed to perform public services. Existing law requires state and local public agencies to make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for apprenticeable occupations in their respective workforces. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials. Existing law requires, as a minimum requirement for a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential, the satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as specified. This bill would require the commission and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to partner in the dissemination, approval, and monitoring of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs in California, and to communicate apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, local educational agencies, and other potential sponsors of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, would authorize the commission to issue apprenticeship certificates or permits to educator candidates without a credential who are employed by local educational agencies and participating in commission-approved credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, as specified, and would require the commission to adopt regulations for that purpose. The bill would authorize the commission and the division to enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish processes and procedures for information sharing, application review, and data collection and reporting, and would authorize the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in consultation with the commission, to issue rules and regulations that govern credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, including the approval and denial of programs, registration of agreements, program administration and procedures, evaluations, working conditions, and minimum standards, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for a new credentialed educator apprenticeship program or for the expansion of an existing credentialed educator apprenticeship program into a new geographic or credential area to submit specified documentation to the chief. The bill would require the division to present the apprenticeship program application to the commission for its review, as provided, and would require the commission, if it is satisfied that specified conditions have been met, to provide written notice of that fact to the chief. The bill would require the commission to, among other things, publish on its internet website guidance for prospective and commission-approved apprenticeship sponsors, commission-accredited professional preparation programs, and employing local educational agencies on the relationship between educator apprenticeships and professional preparation programs, as specified, and to support the development and expansion of educator apprenticeships in credential shortage areas and geographic areas with persistent educator workforce needs, including, but not limited to, through commission-administered grant programs, as applicable. Existing law requires the commission, by April 15 of each year, to report to the Legislature and the Governor information on the availability of teachers in California, including, among other things, the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an emergency permit or credential waiver, as specified. This bill would require that report to also include the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an apprenticeship certificate or permit, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the Department of Industrial Relations to adopt occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. Existing law imposes restrictions on specified high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone, as those terms are defined. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks is prohibited from using dry methods, and is required to use effective wet methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks. Existing law requires the owner or operator of a fabrication shop, or any individual who will employ another individual to perform high-exposure trigger tasks in a fabrication shop, to ensure that an employee who will perform high-exposure tasks receives specified training and to annually attest to the division that these employees have been trained. Existing law requires the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the department to develop an application and certification process for fabrication shops to lawfully engage in slab solid surface product fabrication activities. The bill would authorize fabrication shops to engage in those fabrication activities during the pendency of the application development and certification process. The bill would require the department to develop an initial deposit process for fabrication shops to, during the pendency of the application development and certification process, submit a deposit fee for the application and certification subject to specified requirements, including that the deposit amount goes towards the initial certification fee collected by the department. This bill would require, beginning July 1, 2028, the department to grant a 3-year certification to a fabrication shop that demonstrates satisfaction of specified criteria involving workplace safety conditions and precautions, and would authorize certification renewal, as specified. Among other conditions, the bill would establish certain regulatory fees in amounts to be determined and adjusted by the department, as specified, for the certification and renewal thereof. The bill would authorize the department to suspend or revoke a certification in certain cases, including for gross negligence, as specified. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the division and the State Department of Public Health, to track and keep a record of specified information on fabrication shops, including the number of citations issued to any of the fabrication shops for failure to comply with any temporary or future standards relating to respirable crystalline silica, as specified. This bill would prohibit a person or entity, or an employee thereof, from engaging in fabrication activities, as defined, on slab solid surface products unless they conduct the fabrication activities at a fabrication shop that has submitted a valid initial deposit to the department, or, after July 1, 2028, has submitted an application for initial certification or renewal and the application is pending or has a valid certification, as provided. The bill would require the division to enforce this prohibition by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. This bill would prohibit, beginning July 1, 2028, a person from supplying a slab solid surface product directly to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products if the person, entity, or business does not have a valid, or pending application for, certification. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business engaged in fabrication activities on those products to verify that the person, entity, or business has a certification, or a pending application for certification, as specified. The bill would require a person that supplies a slab solid surface product to a person, entity, or business that is not engaged in fabrication activities to rely on written certification issued under penalty of perjury that, among other things, they will not directly engage in fabrication activities with the product without a certification. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require a person that seeks services that require fabrication activities and enters into a contract with a person, entity, or business to undertake fabrication activities to verify that the person, entity, or business has a valid certificate before engaging with and providing slab solid surface products to that person, entity, or business. The bill would require the division to enforce these requirements by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would establish the Slab Fabrication Activity Account in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund in the State Treasury, and would require all fees, penalties, or other moneys collected by the department under the bill and under the above-described provisions relating to high-exposure trigger tasks to be deposited into the account. The bill would authorize moneys in the account to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of administering the bill and other provisions related to silicosis risk exposure in fabrication shops. 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, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, except as specified, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer with 5 or more employees to include on any application for employment, before the employer makes a conditional offer of employment to the applicant, any question that seeks the disclosure of an applicant's conviction history, to consider the conviction history of the applicant until after the employer has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant, or to distribute information about an arrest not followed by conviction, referral to or participation in a pretrial or posttrial diversion program, or convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, expunged, or statutorily eradicated or any conviction for which the convicted person has received a full pardon or has been issued a certificate of rehabilitation while conducting a conviction history background check in connection with an application for employment, as specified. This bill would define the term "conviction or arrest record," for these purposes. The bill would include among those things that it is unlawful for an employer with 5 or more employees to do while conducting a conviction history background check in connection with an application for employment, asking any question that directly or indirectly seeks consent for a conviction history background check or requesting consent for or beginning a conviction history background check before providing the applicant with a list of all essential job duties, requiring a job applicant to cover the cost of a conviction history background check, or requiring any time before or after the conditional job offer, that an applicant self-disclose conviction history or provide the employer with any documentary evidence related to conviction history or rehabilitation, as specified. Existing law requires an employer that intends to deny an applicant a position of employment solely or in part because of the applicant's conviction history to make an individualized assessment of whether the applicant's conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job that justify denying the applicant the position considering specified factors. This bill, instead, would prohibit an employer from denying an applicant a position of employment or taking any other adverse action solely or in part because of the applicant's conviction history unless the employer first, reasonably and in good faith, demonstrates via an individualized assessment, that the applicant's conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job that justifies denying the applicant the position and it complies with a specified process. The bill would require the employer to commit the results of the individualized assessment to writing if it makes a decision to deny a position of employment or takes any adverse action. The bill would specify that it is not an adverse action for an employer to temporarily suspend an employee, with pay and for a reasonable amount of time, while the employer complies with the requirements of these provisions. Existing law makes these provisions inapplicable to a position as a farm labor contractor, as specified or to a position where an employer or agent thereof is required by any state, federal, or local law to conduct criminal background checks for employment purposes or to restrict employment based on criminal history. This bill would remove the exemption for farm labor contractors.
Existing law requires an employer, semimonthly or at the time of payment of wages, to furnish an employee an accurate, itemized, written statement containing specified information regarding the amounts earned, hours worked, and the employee's identity, among other things, subject to certain variations. Existing law provides that an itemized wage statement furnished by an employer pursuant to these provisions is not required to show total hours worked by the employee if, among other things, the employee is exempt from the payment of minimum wage and overtime under specified law. Existing federal law, the Railway Labor Act, regulates labor relations for rail and air carriers and entitles employees to organize and bargain collectively. This bill would provide that an itemized wage statement may, in lieu of total hours worked, show all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate if the employee is a flight deck crewmember or cabin crewmember covered by the federal Railway Labor Act and the employer makes available certain information regarding duty hours in accordance with federal regulations, as specified. The bill would also provide that an itemized wage statement may not be required to show the number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate for a covered employee under specified circumstances. The bill would prohibit a person, commencing June 11, 2026, from filing a new legal action by or on behalf of a crewmember asserting specified violations of the wage statement requirements.
Existing law, the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (Cal/WARN Act) , among other things, prohibits an employer from ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment unless, 60 days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to the employees affected by the order and to the Employment Development Department and certain local officials. Existing law requires the notice to contain specified information and makes an employer who fails to give the required notice liable to each employee entitled to notice who lost their employment for back pay and the value of the cost of any benefits to which the employee would have been entitled had their employment not been lost, as provided. Existing law also makes an employer subject to civil penalties, as provided, for each day of the employer's violation. Existing law defines "employer" for these purposes to mean any person, as defined, who directly or indirectly owns and operates a covered establishment and defines "covered establishment" to mean any industrial or commercial facility or part thereof that employs, or has employed within the preceding 12 months, 75 or more persons. This bill would add "public agency" to the definitions of employer and covered establishment, thereby making the Cal/WARN Act applicable to public agencies. The bill would, in the case of a sale of part or all of an employer's business, make the seller responsible for providing the notice for any mass layoff, relocation, or termination up to and including the effective date of the sale, and make the purchaser responsible for providing the notice following the effective date of the sale. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes.
Existing law generally prohibits an employment contract from requiring a worker to pay certain penalties, fees, costs, or debts related to employment or education if the worker's employment or work relationship terminates, as provided. Existing law provides that a contract that is unlawful under that prohibition is void and contrary to public policy as a restraint of engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or business. Existing law authorizes a worker, among other persons, to bring a civil action for specified civil penalties and relief for a violation of these provisions. Existing law applies these provisions to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026. This bill would instead apply those provisions to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2027. The bill would establish exceptions to the above-described prohibition for contracts. Among these exceptions, the bill would except contracts for bonuses relating to specified recruitment and retention programs, and repayment obligations arising from advanced paid time off upon voluntary separation, as prescribed. The bill would further except certain affiliation contracts between a securities broker-dealer, insurance producer, or investment adviser and its agents or representatives that are registered and licensed, as specified, and their affiliates if the contract satisfies certain conditions. The bill would make related findings and declarations. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (Cal/WARN Act) , prohibits an employer from ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment unless, 60 days before the order takes effect, the employer gives written notice of the order to the employees affected by the order and to the Employment Development Department and certain local officials. Existing law makes an employer who fails to give specified notice regarding a mass layoff, relocation, or termination subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for each day of the employer's violation. This bill would revise the Cal/WARN Act to also require an employer giving notice of a mass layoff, relocation, or termination caused in whole or in substantial part by an artificial intelligence (AI) system or other automated technology replacing or automating employment positions to include certain information in the notice, including the job functions performed by workers that will be automated by AI or other automated technology. The bill would require the department to publish a summary of the notices received on its internet website and to post a quarterly statewide summary of technological displacements reported. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to submit a report to the Legislature on artificial intelligence's effects on business hiring practices, including its impact on industries and occupations at the state and regional level. The bill would repeal the provision requiring that report on January 1, 2029.
Existing law establishes requirements with respect to public contracts that apply when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project, as specified. Existing law requires a public entity subject to skilled and trained workforce requirements to include a specified notice in all bid documents. Existing law specifies that a failure of a public entity to include the required notice that a project is subject to the skilled and trained workforce requirement does not excuse a public entity from those requirements. This bill would expand the circumstances under which those requirements apply to specified instruments and laws, including development agreements and resolutions, as provided. The bill would, in addition to the specified notice in bid documents, require a public entity to post, or require a prime contractor to post, a job site notice specifying that the project is subject to the skilled and trained workforce requirement. The bill would also extend the same posting and notice requirement to private developers. The bill would impose a penalty of no more than $10,000 per month on a private developer who failed to comply with the above-described posting or notice requirement, following an investigation by the Labor Commissioner or its designee. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to reduce or waive the penalty under specified circumstances. The bill would further require the Labor Commissioner or its designee to issue a civil wage and penalty assessment to the developer, as specified, for a violation of the posting and notice requirement, and would authorize a request for review of the assessment under certain statutory processes. The bill would make a willful violation of the posting or notice requirement by a developer, its agent, or representative, to be a misdemeanor. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires a contractor or bidder, among others, to submit a monthly report to the public entity while the project or contract is being performed demonstrating compliance with skilled and trained workforce requirements, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to assess specified civil penalties against a contractor or subcontractor for a violation of the skilled and workforce requirements, and authorizes reduction or waiver of a penalty for specified conditions. Among these conditions is whether a contractor or subcontractor submitted and followed a plan to achieve substantial compliance with the skilled and trained workforce requirements. This bill would prohibit the Labor Commissioner from waiving penalties for an incomplete or absent monthly compliance report and a material misrepresentation. The bill would impose the highest penalty for violations of skilled and trained workforce requirements committed after a noncompliance notice, as specified. The bill would expand the conditions that the Labor Commissioner should consider when setting a monetary penalty for failure to use a skilled and trained workforce, including, for the first violation in the prior 3 years, whether a contractor or subcontractor submitted and followed a substantial compliance plan to remedy noncompliance. The bill would define various terms for these purposes, including "substantial compliance plan" and "material misrepresentation." This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to accept complaints from a labor-management committee, as provided, alleging a skilled and trained workforce violation by a contractor or subcontractor. The bill would make various technical and conforming changes. 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.
