California's legislative session ended Friday with a slew of workplace-related bills passing through the Assembly and Senate. They now sit on Gov. Brown's desk, waiting for his signature or veto.
We've rounded up a list of those bills with links to the legislation and a short description of what each one proposes.
And we didn't stop there. We also wrote a song about 15 of those laws. Listen to it right here and follow along with the lyrics below:
There are so many workplace bills, waiting to be signed in those Sacramento hills. We can hardly keep them straight, so here’s a little tune to educate.
Job interviews would be slightly more great under AB-168. You could find out what the job really pays, but no one could ask for your previous wage.
Then comes AB-1209, which says paying men more isn’t fine. There’s family leave (two bills!), immigration subpoenas, and what’s inside your favorite cleaners.
If you have a criminal history, on your job application you could keep it a mystery. Beauty pros trained to spot harassers, bartenders learn to stop drunk disasters.
There's meal delivery regulation, school worker paychecks that come on vacation. Those who say they were wrongly fired could go back to work as appeals transpired.
Union hopes in home health care, no guns means no guns at school anywhere, more protection for pregnant women.
But it all boils down, to what happens with Governor Brown. Stay tuned for your new possible laws (see the full list below). He has until Oct. 15 to sign or veto.
SB 63
SB 63 would expand the state’s family leave law to employers with 20 or more workers. Eligible employees could take up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption or foster care placement.
AB 168
AB 168 would prohibit employers from asking about a job applicant's salary history. On request, an employer would also be required to provide a job applicant with the pay scale for the desired position.
SB 201
SB 201 would give students who are employed as research assistants at the University of California, the California State University and the Hastings College of Law the right to collectively bargain.
SB 258
Known as The Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, SB 258 would require manufacturers of cleaning products to disclose information about the chemicals contained in certain products, to better protect both consumers and cleaning professionals.
SB 306
SB 306 would provide whistleblowers additional protections against employer retaliation. An employee could seek a court-ordered injunction to return to work if he could show reasonable cause that he was discharged or faced adverse action at work due to retaliation from the employer.
AB 326
AB 326 would require cosmetology licensing coursework to include training in physical and sexual abuse awareness.
AB 424
AB 424 would prohibit school superintendents or those with equivalent authority from giving written permission to an individual to possess a firearm within a school zone.
AB 450
AB 450 would prohibit an employer from allowing an immigration enforcement agent to enter the workplace unless the agent produces a judicial warrant. The bill would also prohibit an employer from allowing an immigration enforcement agent to access, review, or obtain employee records without a subpoena or court order.
AB 568
AB 568 would require school districts, charter schools and community colleges to provide at least six weeks of full paid leave for pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery.
AB 569
AB 569 would protect women from being fired or disciplined over decisions related to their own reproductive health, including, but not limited to, the use of any drug, device or medical service.
AB 621
AB 621 would allow classified, non-teaching school employees to set aside some of their earnings throughout the school year in order to receive paychecks during the summer recess. The state would also provide a match for those funds.
AB 1008
Known as the "Ban the Box" bill, AB 1008 would prohibit public or private employers (with five or more employees) from asking job seekers about past convictions on any application for employment. The employer could ask about an applicant's conviction history after giving the applicant a conditional offer of employment.
AB 1209
AB 1209 would require businesses with 500 or more workers to collect information about gender pay differentials and submit that data to the state. The information for all companies would later be posted on the internet.
AB 1221
AB 1221 would require the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to develop a required training program for staff at bars and restaurants, so that those workers could better identify when customers have been over served.
AB 1461
AB 1461 would require all employees involved in preparing meal subscription delivery packages to obtain food handler cards, and in turn receive training in food safety practices.
AB 1513
AB 1513 would require the Department of Social Services to maintain a list of registered home care aides and to make that list available, upon request, to specified groups, including unions, that can use the contact information to help home health care workers organize.
