Public defender offices; Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and County of Prince William. Establishes a public defender office for the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and the County of Prince William. This bill is identical to HB 366.
Earned paid sick time. Requires public and private employers with 15 or more employees to provide those employees with earned paid sick time; however, the provisions of the bill would not apply to an employer that has entered into a bona fide collective bargaining agreement. The measure provides for an employee to earn at least one hour of paid sick leave benefit for every 30 hours worked. An employee shall not use more than 40 hours of earned paid sick time in a year, unless the employer selects a higher limit. Employees shall not be entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time until the ninetieth calendar day following commencement of their employment, unless otherwise permitted by the employer. The bill provides that earned paid sick time may be used (i) for an employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; an employee's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need for preventive medical care; (ii) to provide care to a family member under similar circumstances; (iii) when there is a closure of the employee's place of business or the employee's child's school or place of care due to a public health emergency; or (iv) when an employee's or employee's family member's presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others because of their exposure to a communicable disease. The bill prohibits employers from taking certain retaliatory actions against employees related to leave and authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, in the case of a knowing violation, to subject an employer to a civil penalty not to exceed $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second violation, and $500 for each successive violation, if the second or successive violation occurs within two years of the previous violation. The Commissioner of Labor and Industry may institute proceedings on behalf of an employee to enforce compliance with this measure and to collect specified amounts from the employer, which shall be awarded to the employee. Alternatively, an aggrieved employee is authorized to bring a civil action against the employer in which he may recover double the amount of any unpaid earned sick time and the amount of any actual damages suffered as the result of the employer's violation. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and incorporates SB 1069.
Commending the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Public defender offices; Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and County of Prince William. Establishes a public defender office for the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park and the County of Prince William. This bill is identical to SB 72.
School principals; incident reports. Eliminates the requirement for reports to be made to division superintendents and school principals on incidents involving assault or assault and battery, without bodily injury, of any person on a school bus, on school property, or at a school-sponsored activity. The bill also eliminates the requirement that school principals report certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense to law enforcement.
Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Fund and Grant Program; political subdivisions. Establishes the Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Fund and directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish a Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Grant Program for infrastructure development projects that support local food production and sustainable farming. The bill directs the Department to award grants to political subdivisions for projects that include the establishment or maintenance of farmers markets; businesses or organizations that manage the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of food products primarily from local and regional producers; and primarily locally owned processing facilities. Any political subdivision that is awarded a grant is required to oversee the spending of the grant and provide an annual report and a final report to the Department. The bill provides parameters for the payment of the grant amount to each political subdivision and establishes requirements for verification of compliance with award criteria by such political subdivision.
Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Business licenses; acceptable identification. Provides that for any application for a business license issued by a locality under its business, professional, and occupational license taxing authority, the locality shall not require an applicant to provide a social security number if the applicant provides his federal employer identification number instead. Further, if a valid federal employer identification number is provided, the locality shall not be required to determine the residency status of the applicant.
Employee misclassification; retaliatory actions prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits an employer from discharging, disciplining, threatening, discriminating against, or penalizing an employee or independent contractor because the employee or independent contractor reported or plans to report that an employer or any officer or agent has failed to properly classify an individual as an employee and failed to pay required benefits or other contributions. The measure also prohibits such actions against an employee or independent contractor who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by an appropriate authority or in a court action. These prohibitions apply only if an employee or independent contractor acts in good faith and upon a reasonable belief that the information is accurate. The measure authorizes the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to institute proceedings against an employer who has taken such prohibited retaliatory action. Available remedies include reinstatement of the employee and recovery of lost wages. An employer that violates these provisions is subject to a civil penalty equal to the employee's lost wages. This bill is identical to SB 662.
Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringing the action. The measure provides that an individual who performs services for a person for remuneration shall be presumed to be an employee unless it is shown that the individual is an independent contractor as determined under the Internal Revenue Service guidelines. This bill is identical to SB 894.
