Yesterday, September 30, 2018 was the last day for Governor Brown to sign or veto legislation passed by the California legislature this year.  Here is a list of the employment bills that were signed and will impact California employers in 2019 (the bills will become effective January 1, 2019, unless the bill specifies otherwise):

AB 3109 by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) – Contracts: waiver of right of petition or free speech.  This bill makes unenforceable any provision in a contract or settlement agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2019, that waives a party’s right to testify in an administrative, legislative, or judicial proceeding concerning alleged criminal conduct or alleged sexual harassment on the part of the other party when the party has been required or requested to attend the proceeding pursuant to a court order, subpoena, or written request from an administrative agency or the legislature.

SB 224 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) – Personal rights: civil liability and enforcement.  This bill adds “investor, elected official, lobbyist, director, and producer among those listed persons who may be liable to a plaintiff for sexual harassment” under Civil Code section 51.9 of who may be personally liable for sexual harassment.

SB 820 by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino) – Settlement agreements: confidentiality.  Prohibits provision in settlement agreements that prevents the disclosure of factual information relating to certain claims of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination.

SB 826 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) – Corporations: boards of directors. Requires public companies who have principle executive offices in California to have a set number of women on the board of directors.  The Governor’s signing message can be found here.

SB 1252 by Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) – Payroll records.  Existing law grants current and former employees of employers who are required to keep this information the right to inspect or copy records pertaining to their employment, upon reasonable request. Existing law requires an employer to respond to these requests within a specified time.  This bill provides that employees have the right to receive a copy of the employment records described above and apply the associated time requirements and penalty provisions in this context.

SB 1300 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) – Unlawful employment practices: discrimination and harassment.  Prohibits an employer, in exchange for a raise or bonus, or as a condition of employment of continued employment, from requiring the execution of a release of a claim or right under FEHA or from requiring an employee to sign a nondisparagement agreement or other document that purports to deny the employee the right to disclose information about unlawful acts in the workplace, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment.  The bill also provides that a prevailing defendant is prohibited from being awarded fees and costs unless the court finds the action was frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless when brought or that the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so.

SB 1343 by Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) – Employers: sexual harassment training: requirements.  This bill requires employers with 5 or more employees, including temporary or seasonal employees, to provide at least 2 hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisors and at least one hour of sexual harassment training to all nonsupervisory employees by January 1, 2020, and once every 2 years thereafter.

SB 1412 by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) – Applicants for employment: criminal history.  The bill permits employers to conduct background checks for employees under certain narrow exceptions.


Governor Brown vetoed the following employment bills, which will not become effective:

AB 1867 – by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) – Employment discrimination: sexual harassment: records. This bill would have required employers with 50 or more employees to retain records of sexual harassment complaints for at least five years.  The Governor’s veto message can be found here.

AB 1870 – by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) – Employment discrimination: limitation of actions. This bill would have extended the statute of limitations for employment discrimination claims under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act from one year to three years.  The Governor’s veto message can be found here.

AB 2079 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) – Janitorial workers: sexual violence and harassment prevention training. The Governor’s veto message can be found here.

AB 2732 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) – Employment: unfair immigration-related practices: janitorial workers: sexual violence and harassment prevention training. The Governor’s veto message can be found here.

AB 3080 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) – Employment discrimination: enforcement. The Governor’s veto message can be found here.  I previously wrote about this bill, and the potential effect it would have on employers in California here.

AB 3081 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) – Employment: sexual harassment. The bill would have created a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation that any adverse employment action within 30 days for anyone that was a victim of sexual harassment.  The bill would have also created joint liability for employers who use contractor labor for any harassment supplied by that labor contractor.  The Governor’s veto message can be found here.

I’ll definitely be writing more about the new laws that will be taking effect.  Please subscribe to the blog (enter email in top right hand column) to receive email notifications when the blog is updated.