Eyes on Sacramento: Year-End Legislative Updates

With the California’s legislative session ending in October, we now know which bills made it through the legislative process and were presented to the governor, and which bills died along that path. For those bills that made it out of the legislature, the governor could do one of the following: (1) veto the bill, (2) sign the bill, or (3) approve the bill without signature. Payne & Fears identified 24 employment-related laws relevant to our clients’ industries; Governor Newsome approved of 22 laws and vetoed two laws. For a full discussion of each of these new laws, and the ones that will not become law, please see our Legislative Updates Summaries.

Employment Laws to Know

A few of the bills that employers should be aware of are the following:

• Notice to employees: legal services (AB 1870) – Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the workers’ compensation employee rights notice that employers must post in the workplace will include information concerning an injured employee’s ability to consult a licensed attorney to advise the employee of their rights under workers’ compensation laws.
• Disability compensation: paid family leave (AB 2123) – Effective Jan 1. 2025, employers may no longer require employees to use accrued vacation leave before accessing California’s Paid Family Leave Program. 
• Labor Code Enforcement: Private Civil Actions (AB 2288) & Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (SB 92) – Effective June 19, 2024, various procedures related to and the remedies available under California’s Private Attorneys General Act were modified, including a mechanism for employers to limit the recoverable remedies based on the steps taken by the employer prior to and following the receipt of a PAGA notice. For an in-depth discussion please see our prior alert, Text of Major PAGA Reform Legislation Revealed
• Labor Commissioner: whistleblower protections: model list of rights and responsibilities (AB 2299) – Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the Labor Commission must develop a model list of employees’ rights and responsibilities under the whistleblower laws that employers could use to satisfy their compliance obligations for posting such a list in the workplace.
• Unlawful Employment Practices: discrimination for time off or status as a victim of violence (AB 2499) – Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the jury, court, and victim time-off provisions for employees are revised and recast as unlawful employment practices within the Fair Employment and Housing Act. This new law results in broader protections, including referring to a “qualifying act of violence,” as defined, instead of crime or crime or abuse, and providing for leave if a family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence.
• Discrimination: driver’s license (SB 1100) – Effective Jan. 1, 2025, employers may not include in their job advertisements, postings, applications or other material that an applicant must have a driver’s license, unless (1) the employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the job functions, and (2) the employer reasonably believes that satisfying the job function using an alternative form of transportation, as defined, would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer.
• Race Discrimination: hairstyles (AB 1815) & Discrimination claims: combination of characteristics (SB 1137) – Effective Jan 1. 2025, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), will no longer include the term “historically” in the definition of “race”, thereby broadening the scope of the term “race” to incorporate any traits associated race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles, as defined, without limiting it to historical contexts. These new laws also amend the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the FEHA to prohibit discrimination because of any combination of the prescribed protected characteristics.

Employment-Related Bills that Did Not Make the Cut

In a win for employers, Governor Newsom vetoed multiple bills that would have further complicated an employer’s ability to understand and comply with the law. The bills that were vetoed by the governor include:

• Enforcement of Civil Rights (SB 1022) – This vetoed bill would have clarified various unsettled procedural matters involving the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and would have provided the Civil Rights Department with a seven-year period to file a group or class complaint under FEHA. The governor vetoed the bill because limitations period is significantly longer than the limitations period for similar civil matters, including class action litigation on behalf of employees.
• Farmworkers: benefits (SB 1299) – This vetoed bill would have established, for purposes of workers’ compensation insurance, a disputable presumption that a heat-related injury that develops within a specified time frame after working outdoors for an employer in the agriculture industry that fails to comply with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA)’s heat illness prevention standards, as defined, arose out of and came in the course of employment. The governor vetoed the bill because conditioning a workers’ compensation presumption on compliance with standards set and enforced by another regulatory provision is not an effective way to improve working conditions.

Upcoming Webinar: New CA Employment Laws 2025: Are You Prepared?