California Employment Law for 2003 - One Sentence Updates
By Steven J. Pynes

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Family Temporary Disability Insurance

SB 1661: Expands SDI benefits available in July 2004 for up to six weeks of wage loss to care for family member, domestic partner, birth, and adoption or foster care placement.

Workers Compensation

AB 486: Penalties deposited in Workers’ Compensation Administrative Revolving Fund for benefit of Commission on Health and Safety.

AB 749: Increases benefit awards, requires lawyer judges, DLSE enforcement program, doubles fraud penalties and creates grant-based return to work program.

AB 1179: Reviewer of doctor’s billing must receive everything and disclose why reduction recommended.

AB 2816: Temp agencies pay workers’ compensation at the experience rate of the contractor.

California WARN

AB 2957: Sixty-day notice required for mass layoff, relocation or plant closure.

Discrimination

AB 925: State to develop strategy to bring persons with disabilities into employment.

AB 1146: Extends period in which actions must be filed with DFEH while EEOC conducts investigation.

AB 1599: Changes nature of age discrimination and prohibits discrimination in training.

Friedman v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (pdf): Veganism is not protected under FEHA as a religious creed.

Salazar v. Diversified Paratransit, Inc. (pdf): Employer not liable for sexual harassment of employee by non-employee, client or customer (however, review of this Appellate decision has been granted by the California Supreme Court).

Investigations

AB 1068: Allows collection of information without disclosure.

Unemployment

AB 1729: Coordination of enforcement activities.

AB 1932: EDD reconsideration of benefits within 30 days of appeal.

AB 2929: State earnings withholding order permitted to collect overpayments.

Benefits

AB 1401: Extension of Cal/COBRA benefits.

Safety

AB 2837: Penalties for failure to report a serious injury, illness or fatality to Cal/OSHA.

Privacy

AB 700: Employer must notify employees of unauthorized access to computerized information.

Special Rights

AB 2195: Protections to victims of sexual assault like victims of domestic violence.

AB 2412: Employee right to review payroll records within 21 days.

AB 2780: Whistleblower protection for security officers.

AB 2868: Authorizes communication regarding job performance and eligibility for rehire.

AB 2895: Employer prevented from restricting employee disclosure of working conditions.

AB 2985: Research study regarding enforcement of wage and hour laws.

SB 1471: Absence control policy using sick leave to care for child, parent, spouse or domestic partner is violation of California law.

SB 1818: State law employee protections available without regard to immigration status.