Bill Text: CA AB2405 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Employment: employees: time off.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-13 - Stricken from file. [AB2405 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2405-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2405 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
McCarty )
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 230.8 of the Labor Code, relating to
employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2405, as amended, Gatto. Employment: employees: time off.
Existing law prohibits an employer who employs 25 or more
employees working at the same location from discharging or
discriminating against an employee who is a parent, as defined,
having custody of a child in a licensed child day care facility or in
kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for taking off up to 40
hours each year to find, enroll, or reenroll their child in a school,
to participate in school activities, or address emergency situations
at school, subject to specified conditions. Existing law requires an
employee to use vacation or other paid time off when taking time off
under these provisions and authorizes the use of unpaid time off, to
the extent made available by the employer.
This bill would require an employer to annually provide an
employee at least 24 8 hours of paid
time off for the purposes of a planned absence under these
provisions, except as specified, and would instead authorize an
employee to use vacation or paid time off, or use unpaid time off, if
available, when taking time off under these provisions.
The bill would provide a remedy to an employee whose request for
time off under these provisions is denied by the employer. The bill
would require the Labor Commissioner to create a poster listing the
protections available to employees and would require an employer to
post it at the workplace, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 230.8 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
230.8. (a) (1) An employer who employs 25 or more employees
working at the same location shall not discharge or in any way
discriminate against an employee who is a parent of one or more
children of the age to attend kindergarten or grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, or a licensed child care provider, for taking off up to 40
hours each year, for the purpose of either of the following
child-related activities:
(A) To find, enroll, or reenroll his or her child in a school or
with a licensed child care provider, or to participate in activities
of the school or licensed child care provider of his or her child, if
the employee, prior to taking the time off, gives reasonable notice
to the employer of the planned absence of the employee. Time off
pursuant to this subparagraph shall not exceed eight hours in any
calendar month of the year.
(B) To address a child care provider or school emergency, if the
employee gives notice to the employer.
(2) If more than one parent of a child is employed by the same
employer at the same worksite, the entitlement under paragraph (1) of
a planned absence as to that child applies, at any one time, only to
the parent who first gives notice to the employer, such that another
parent may take a planned absence simultaneously as to that same
child under the conditions described in paragraph (1) only if he or
she obtains the employer's approval for the requested time off.
(b) (1) The employee may utilize existing vacation, personal
leave, or compensatory time off for purposes of the planned absence
authorized by this section, unless otherwise provided by a collective
bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 1995, and in
effect on that date. An employee also may utilize time off without
pay for this purpose, to the extent made available by his or her
employer.
(2) The employee shall annually be provided at least 24
eight hours of paid time off for the purposes of
the planned absence authorized by this section, unless otherwise
provided in a collective bargaining agreement entered into before
January 1, 2017.
(3) Except as set forth in paragraph (2), the entitlement of any
employee under this section shall not be diminished by any collective
bargaining agreement term or condition that is agreed to on or after
January 1, 1995.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the event that all
permanent, full-time employees of an employer are accorded vacation
during the same period of time in the calendar year, an employee of
that employer may not utilize that accrued vacation benefit at any
other time for purposes of the planned absence authorized by this
section.
(c) The employee, if requested by the employer, shall provide
documentation from the school or licensed child care provider as
proof that he or she engaged in child-related activities permitted in
subdivision (a) on a specific date and at a particular time. For
purposes of this subdivision, "documentation" means whatever written
verification of parental participation the school or licensed child
care provider deems appropriate and reasonable.
(d) Any employee who is denied time off under this section,
discharged, threatened with discharge, demoted, suspended, or in any
other manner discriminated or retaliated against in terms and
conditions of employment by his or her employer because the employee
has taken or requested time off to engage in child-related activities
permitted in subdivision (a) shall be entitled to reinstatement and
reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits caused by the acts of
the employer, and appropriate equitable relief. Any employer who
willfully refuses to rehire, promote, or otherwise restore an
employee or former employee who has been determined to be eligible
for rehiring or promotion by a grievance procedure, arbitration, or
hearing authorized by law shall be subject to a civil penalty in an
amount equal to three times the amount of the employee's lost wages
and work benefits.
(e) An employee who is discharged, threatened with discharge,
demoted, suspended, or in any other manner discriminated or
retaliated against in the terms and conditions of employment by his
or her employer because the employee has exercised his or her rights
as set forth in subdivision (a) may file a complaint with the
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement of the Department of
Industrial Relations pursuant to Section 98.7.
(f) In each workplace of the employer, the employer shall display
a poster in a conspicuous place containing all the information
specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). The Labor Commissioner
shall create a poster containing this information and make it
available to employers. The poster shall include all of the
following:
(1) An employee is entitled to request and use 24
eight hours of paid time off for their child's
school-related activities.
(2) That retaliation or discrimination against an employee who
requests paid time off or uses time off, or both, is prohibited and
that an employee has the right under this article to file a complaint
with the Labor Commissioner against an employer who retaliates or
discriminates against the employee.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Parent" means a parent, guardian, stepparent, foster parent,
or grandparent of, or a person who stands in loco parentis to, a
child.
(2) "Child care provider or school emergency" means that an
employee's child cannot remain in a school or with a child care
provider due to one of the following:
(A) The school or child care provider has requested that the child
be picked up, or has an attendance policy, excluding planned
holidays, that prohibits the child from attending or requires the
child to be picked up from the school or child care provider.
(B) Behavioral or discipline problems.
(C) Closure or unexpected unavailability of the school or child
care provider, excluding planned holidays.
(D) A natural disaster, including, but not limited to, fire,
earthquake, or flood.
