Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations, and charges the division with the enforcement of various laws affecting safe working conditions, including the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973. Existing law requires the Director of Industrial Relations to prepare and submit to the Legislature an annual report on the activities of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, as specified. Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as one of the segments of postsecondary education in the state. Existing law requires the Department of Industrial Relations to contract with the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center, to conduct a study evaluating opportunities to improve worker safety and safeguard employment rights, as specified, and to convene an advisory committee to make recommendations regarding the scope of the study, as described. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to contract with the University of California, Berkeley Labor Occupational Health Program and the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program to conduct a study to evaluate the understaffing and vacancies within the division and make recommendations to the department, the Department of Human Resources, and the Legislature on policies the state shall use to inform the consideration and establishment of career pathways to the Compliance Safety and Health Officer classification. The bill would authorize the University of California to subcontract the responsibility for conducting the study to other specified entities. The bill would require the University of California and its subcontractors, if any, to issue a report that includes certain information about the understaffing and vacancies of Compliance Safety and Health Officers within the division. The bill would further require the University of California to convene an advisory committee consisting of members from specified state agencies, worker advocacy organizations, other academic institutions, and other entities, as specified, to make recommendations regarding the scope of the above-described study, and provide specified findings and recommendations to the division, as prescribed. The bill would require the advisory committee, within 60 days of entering into the contract the University of California, to hold at least one meeting, and the department, 18 months after entering into the contract with the University of California, to post the completed report on the division's internet website and to forward the completed report to the members of the advisory committee, the Governor, and specified legislative committee chairs. The bill would define terms for these purposes, and include finding and declaration relating to these provisions.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 provides the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the Department of Industrial Relations with the power, jurisdiction, and supervision over all employment and places of employment necessary to enforce and administer all occupational health and safety laws and to protect employees. The act grants to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, an independent entity within the department, exclusive authority to adopt occupational safety and health standards within the state. Beginning July 1, 2018, and every 5 years thereafter, the act requires the board, in consultation with the department, to complete a comprehensive review of all revisions to National Fire Protection Association standards pertaining to certain personal protective equipment and requires the board to consider modifying existing safety orders and to render a decision regarding the adoption of necessary changes to safety orders, or other applicable standards and regulations, no later than July 1 of the subsequent year, if the review finds that the revisions to applicable National Fire Protection Association standards provide a greater degree of personal protection than the safety orders. This bill would prohibit the board from adopting a safety order or regulation that requires the personal protective equipment described above and used exclusively by certain fire districts to be replaced more frequently than once every 15 years unless the board finds the personal protective equipment is unsafe due to wear and tear, poses an immediate safety hazard, or contains perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or any other currently known hazardous material.
Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Industrial Relations to prepare a notice, to be posted by employers, containing information regarding safety rules and regulations in the workplace. Existing law requires the notice to contain specified items of information, including, among other things, the address and telephone number of the nearest division office. This bill would also require the notice to contain the email address of the nearest division office.
Existing law imposes certain requirements on grocery employers, as defined, upon the purchase or change in control of a grocery establishment, including requiring a successor grocery employer to retain eligible grocery workers for a specified period after transfer of the grocery establishment. This bill would prohibit a grocery retail store or a retail drug establishment, as those terms are defined, from providing a self-service checkout option for customers unless specified conditions are satisfied, including having at least one manual checkout station staffed by an employee who is available to any given customer at the time that a self-service checkout option is made available to that customer. This bill would require a grocery retail store or retail drug establishment that offers self-service checkout to include self-service checkout in the employer's illness and prevention program, as required by regulations of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The bill also would require a grocery retail store or retail drug establishment that intends to implement self-checkout to notify workers and their collective bargaining representatives at least 60 days in advance of the implementation, as specified. The bill would not preempt any city, county, or city and county ordinance that provides equal or greater protection to workers. This bill would make an employer who violates the bill's provisions subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation per day, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $200,000.
Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations with enforcement of the act. Existing law prohibits an employer from laying off or discharging an employee for refusing to perform work that would violate prescribed safety standards where the violation would create a real and apparent hazard to the employee or other employees. Existing law defines "employee" for purposes of those provisions to include a domestic work employee, except as specified. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to, among other things, allow an employee, acting in good faith, to refuse to perform a tasked assigned by an employer if it would violate those prescribed safety standards or if the employee has a reasonable apprehension that the performance of the assigned task would result in injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would make the employee's refusal contingent on the employee or another employee, if reasonably practical, having communicated or attempted to notify the employer of the safety or health risk and the employer having failed to provide a response that is reasonably calculated to allay the employee's concerns. The bill would require the employer to pay the employee full wages during their scheduled work hours until, among other things, the employee can reasonably conclude that the task will no longer result in the risk of serious injury or illness to the employee or other employees. The bill would prohibit an employer from using an employee's refusal to perform an assigned task as grounds for any disciplinary action, and would make certain retaliation protections applicable to the bill's provisions. The bill would delete the provision defining "employee" to include a domestic work employee.
Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, consisting of various offices and entities, including the office of the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, and the California Workforce Development Board. This bill would establish the Essential Worker Commission within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, to review, investigate, and analyze issues relating to essential workers in the state, including workplace safety and health protections and wages and benefits for undocumented workers. The bill would require the Essential Worker Commission, based on that review, investigation, and analysis, to establish the Essential Worker Legal Work Program to provide essential workers with legal pathways to remain in California and work lawfully.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations. Existing law authorizes the division, which is headed by the Labor Commissioner, to enforce the Labor Code and all labor laws of the state, the enforcement of which is not specifically vested in any other officer, board, or commission. This bill would generally regulate the use of workplace surveillance tools and an employer's use of worker data. The bill would, among other things, require an employer, at least 30 days before introducing a workplace surveillance tool, to provide a worker who will be affected a written notice that includes, among other things, a description of the worker data to be collected, the intended purpose of the workplace surveillance tool, and how this form of worker surveillance is necessary to meet that purpose. The bill would define "employer" to include public employers, as specified. The bill would prohibit an employer from transferring, selling, disclosing, or licensing worker data to a vendor, unless the vendor is under contract to analyze or interpret the worker data and the contract includes certain terms. The bill would prohibit an employer from using certain workplace surveillance tools, including a workplace surveillance tool that incorporates facial, gait, or emotion recognition technology, except as specified. The bill would also prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool to infer specified categories of information about a worker, including, among others, their immigration status, veteran status, ancestral history, religious or political beliefs, disability status, criminal record, or credit history. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions, would authorize an employee to bring a civil action for specified remedies for a violation of the bill's provisions, and would authorize a public prosecutor to enforce the provisions. The bill would subject an employer who violates the bill's provisions to a civil penalty of $500 for each violation. The bill would define various terms for purposes of its provisions.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law prescribes the duties and rights of employers and employees relating to specified labor laws, including, among other things, workers' compensation and notice requirements related to inspections conducted by an immigration agency. This bill would establish the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The bill would require an employer, on or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to provide a stand-alone written notice to each current employee of specified workers' rights, including, among other things, the categories described above, as well as constitutional rights of an employee when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, as specified. The bill would also require the employer to provide the written notice to each new employee upon hire and to provide the written notice annually to an employee's authorized representative, if any. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to develop a template notice that an employer may use to comply with the notice requirement described above. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to post the template notice on its internet website on or before January 1, 2026, and to post an updated template notice annually thereafter. The bill would also require the Labor Commissioner, on or before July 1, 2026, to develop a video for employees advising them of their rights under the areas described above and to develop a video for employers advising them of their rights and requirements under those areas, as provided. The bill would require the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the Public Employment Relations Board, and the Attorney General's office to provide specified input for the template notice and the videos. This bill would require an employer, if an employee has designated an emergency contact for this purpose, to notify the designated emergency contact if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite. If the arrest or detention occurs during work hours, or during the performance of the employee's job duties, but not on the worksite, the bill would require the employer to notify the employee's designated emergency contact only if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention of the employee. The bill would require an employer to provide an employee the opportunity to name an emergency contact on or before March 30, 2026, for an existing employee, and at the time of hiring for a new employee hired after March 30, 2026. This bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise their rights under the bill, as provided. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill, as specified, and would also alternatively authorize enforcement by a public prosecutor. The bill would provide that an employer who violates the bill may be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per employee for each violation, except that the penalty for a violation of the provisions relating to emergency contacts would be an amount up to $500 per employee for each day the violation occurs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per employee.
Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and requires the department to be conducted under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law states that the function of the department, among other things, is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment and vests the department with responsibility for administering the state plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards relating to issues covered by corresponding standards adopted pursuant to federal law. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the department to adopt occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (OSHA) , requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcement of the act. OSHA defines "serious injury or illness" for purposes of the act to mean any injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment that results in one of a list of conditions, including inpatient hospitalization, as provided, the loss of a member of the body, any serious degree of permanent disfigurement, and impairment sufficient to cause a part of the body or the function of an organ to become permanently and significantly reduced in efficiency on or off the job, as specified. Under OSHA, certain knowing, negligent, or willful violations of safety and health standards are punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would add silicosis and silica-related lung cancer to the list of conditions that, if resulting from an injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with an employment, would constitute a "serious injury or illness." By expanding the scope of a crime under OSHA, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. OSHA creates a rebuttable presumption that a "serious violation" exists in a place of employment if the division demonstrates that there is a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm could result from the actual hazard created by the violation. OSHA defines "serious physical harm" for purposes of that provision. This bill would expand that definition of "serious physical harm" to include silicosis and silica-related lung cancer. The bill would impose restrictions on specified high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone, as those terms are defined. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks would be prohibited from using dry methods, and would be required to use effective wet methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks. The bill would make a violation of these provisions grounds for, among other disciplinary action, an immediate order by the division prohibiting continued work. The bill would require the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would require the owner or operator of a fabrication shop, or any individual who will employ another individual to perform high-exposure trigger tasks in a fabrication shop, to ensure that an employee who will perform high-exposure tasks receives specified training and, beginning on July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to attest to the division that these employees have been trained. The bill would require the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to consider a report of silicosis related to occupational exposure to artificial stone a serious illness and to report that case to the division. The bill would require the division, if it receives such a report, to subject the employer or place of employment to investigation, as specified. The bill would require the division to notify the State Department of Public Health of any cases of silicosis related to artificial stone identified through enforcement activities. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to conduct specified activities to address silicosis risk exposure in fabrication shops, including providing technical assistance to local health jurisdictions engaged in silicosis surveillance and prevention activities. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system to compensate employees for injuries sustained in the course of their employment. Existing law creates a disputable presumption that specified injuries sustained in the course of employment of a specified member of law enforcement or a specified first responder arose out of and in the course of employment. Existing law authorizes the Department of Industrial Relations to expend moneys that have been appropriated for the administration and enforcement of laws under its jurisdiction, as well as for the maintenance of any commission or office of the department, as specified. Existing law establishes the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund within the State Treasury. Existing law requires the director to levy a surcharge upon employers in order to fund, among other things, the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, existing law authorizes funds to be expended for, among other things, the Return-to-Work Program and the enforcement of the insurance coverage program. Existing law establishes a Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and sets forth various proceedings that are required to be brought forth before the board. Existing law provides that the appeals board is vested with full power, authority, and jurisdiction to try and determine finally all the matters specified in those proceedings subject only to the review by the courts, as specified. This bill would, until January 1, 2031, create a disputable presumption that a heat-related injury that develops within a specified timeframe after working outdoors for an employer in the agriculture industry that fails to comply with heat illness prevention standards, as defined, arose out of and came in the course of employment. The bill would require the appeals board to find in favor of the employee if the employer fails to rebut the presumption. The bill would specify that compensation awarded for heat-related injury to farmworkers is to include, among other things, medical treatment and disability. The bill would prohibit a determination by the appeals board from having any effect in certain investigations and would prohibit that determination from being admissible in proceedings before the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board. The bill would establish the Farmworker Climate Change Heat Injury and Death Fund that would consist of a one-time transfer of $5,000,000 derived from nongeneral funds of the Workers' Compensation Administration Revolving Fund for the purpose of administrative costs associated with this presumption. The bill would make related findings and declarations.
