Bill Text: CA AB11 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Employment: paid sick days: in-home supportive services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB11 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB11-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 11 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 11, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gonzalez
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member
Alejo )
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Bonta Coauthors: Assembly Members
Bonta, Calderon, Chiu,
Cristina Garcia, Gray, Holden, and
Mark Stone )
( Coauthors: Senators Block,
Galgiani, Hancock, Jackson,
Leno, and Mitchell )
DECEMBER 1, 2014
An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 245.5 of the Labor Code,
relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 11, as amended, Gonzalez. Employment: paid sick days: in-home
supportive services.
The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 provides,
among other things, that an employee who, on or after July 1, 2015,
works in California for 30 or more days within a year from the
commencement of employment is entitled to paid sick days for
prescribed purposes, to be accrued at a rate of no less than one hour
for every 30 hours worked. Existing law provides that an employee
under the act does not include a provider of in-home support
services, as described.
This bill would revise the definition of an employee under the
Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 to, as of July 1,
2016, include providers of in-home support services, as described.
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. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Nearly every worker in the State of
California will at some time during the year need some time off from
work to take care of his or her own health or the health of family
members.
(b) Many workers in California do not have any paid sick days, or
have an inadequate number of paid sick days, to care for their own
health or the health of family members.
(c) Providers of in-home supportive services under Section
14132.95, 14132.952, or 14132.956 of, or Article 7 (commencing with
Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of, the Welfare
and Institutions Code, do not qualify for the mandatory paid sick
leave benefit that had been provided under Assembly Bill 1522, the
Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014.
(d) Providing workers time off to attend to their own health care
and the health care of family members will ensure a healthier and
more productive workforce in California.
(e) Paid sick days will have an enormously positive impact on the
public health of Californians by allowing sick workers paid time off
to care for themselves when ill, thus lessening their recovery time,
reducing the likelihood of spreading illness to other members of the
workforce, and increasing the likelihood that they seek care from a
primary health care provider instead of costly emergency room
services.
(f) Paid sick days will allow parents to provide personal care for
their sick children. Parental care ensures children's speedy
recovery, prevents more serious illnesses, and improves children's
overall mental and physical health.
(g) Providing paid sick days is affordable for employers.
(h) Employers who provide paid sick days enjoy greater employee
retention and reduce the likelihood of employees coming to work sick.
Studies have shown that costs of decreased productivity caused by
sick workers exceed the costs of employee absenteeism.
(i) Workers whose jobs involve significant contact with the
public, such as providers of in-home support services, are very
unlikely to have paid sick days. Often, these workers have no choice
but to come to work when they are ill, thereby spreading illness to
coworkers and customers.
(j) Domestic violence and sexual assault affect many persons
without regard to age, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or
socioeconomic status.
(k) Domestic violence is a crime that has a devastating effect on
families, communities, and the workplace. It impacts productivity,
effectiveness, absenteeism, and employee turnover in the workplace.
The National Crime Survey estimates that 175,000 days of work each
year are missed due to domestic violence.
(l) Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault may be
vulnerable at work when trying to end an abusive relationship because
the workplace may be the only place where the perpetrator knows to
contact the victim. Studies show that up to one-half of domestic
violence victims experience job loss. Forty percent reported
on-the-job harassment. Nearly 50 percent of sexual assault survivors
lose their jobs or are forced to quit in the aftermath of the
assaults.
(m) Affording survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault
paid sick days is vital to their independence and recovery.
SEC. 2. In enacting this act, it is the intent of the Legislature
to do the following:
(a) Ensure that workers in California can address their own health
needs and the health needs of their families by requiring employers
to provide a minimum level of paid sick days including time for
family care.
(b) Decrease public and private health care costs in California by
enabling workers to seek early and routine medical care for
themselves and their family members and to address domestic violence
or sexual assault.
(c) Protect employees in California from losing their jobs while
they use sick days to care for themselves or their families.
(d) Provide economic security to employees in California who take
time off from work for reasons related to domestic violence or sexual
assault.
(e) Safeguard the welfare, health, safety, and prosperity of the
people of and visitors to California.
(f) Extend equal protection of paid sick leave benefits to
providers of in-home supportive services.
SEC. 3. Section 245.5 of the Labor Code, as added by Section 3 of
Chapter 317 of the Statues of 2014, is amended to read:
245.5. As used in this article:
(a) "Employee" does not include the following:
(1) An employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement
if the agreement expressly provides for the wages, hours of work,
and working conditions of employees, and expressly provides for paid
sick days or a paid leave or paid time off policy that permits the
use of sick days for those employees, final and binding arbitration
of disputes concerning the application of its paid sick days
provisions, premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and
regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the
state minimum wage rate.
(2) An employee in the construction industry covered by a valid
collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides
for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees,
premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and regular hourly
pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage
rate, and the agreement either (A) was entered into before January 1,
2015, or (B) expressly waives the requirements of this article in
clear and unambiguous terms. For purposes of this subparagraph,
"employee in the construction industry" means an employee performing
onsite work associated with construction, including work involving
alteration, demolition, building, excavation, renovation, remodeling,
maintenance, improvement, repair work, and any other work as
described by Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3
of the Business and Professions Code, and other similar or related
occupations or trades.
(3) A provider of in-home supportive services under Section
14132.95, 14132.952, or 14132.956 of, or Article 7 (commencing with
Section 12300) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 9 of, the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
(4) An individual employed by an air carrier as a flight deck or
cabin crew member that is subject to the provisions of Title II of
the federal Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 181 et seq.), provided
that the individual is provided with compensated time off equal to or
exceeding the amount established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b)
of Section 246.
(b) "Employer" means any person employing another under any
appointment or contract of hire and includes the state, political
subdivisions of the state, and municipalities.
(c) "Family member" means any of the following:
(1) A child, which for purposes of this article means a
biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or a
child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis. This definition
of a child is applicable regardless of age or dependency status.
(2) A biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal
guardian of an employee or the employee's spouse or registered
domestic partner, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the
employee was a minor child.
(3) A spouse.
(4) A registered domestic partner.
(5) A grandparent.
(6) A grandchild.
(7) A sibling.
(d) "Health care provider" has the same meaning as defined in
paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of Section 12945.2 of the Government
Code.
(e) "Paid sick days" means time that is compensated at the same
wage as the employee normally earns during regular work hours and is
provided by an employer to an employee for the purposes described in
Section 246.5.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and, as
of January 1, 2017, is repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 245.5 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
245.5. As used in this article:
(a) "Employee" does not include the following:
(1) An employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement
if the agreement expressly provides for the wages, hours of work,
and working conditions of employees, and expressly provides for paid
sick days or a paid leave or paid time off policy that permits the
use of sick days for those employees, final and binding arbitration
of disputes concerning the application of its paid sick days
provisions, premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and
regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the
state minimum wage rate.
(2) An employee in the construction industry covered by a valid
collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides
for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees,
premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and regular hourly
pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage
rate, and the agreement either (A) was entered into before January 1,
2015, or (B) expressly waives the requirements of this article in
clear and unambiguous terms. For purposes of this subparagraph,
"employee in the construction industry" means an employee performing
onsite work associated with construction, including work involving
alteration, demolition, building, excavation, renovation, remodeling,
maintenance, improvement, repair work, and any other work as
described by Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3
of the Business and Professions Code, and other similar or related
occupations or trades.
(3) An individual employed by an air carrier as a flight deck or
cabin crew member that is subject to the provisions of Title II of
the federal Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. Sec. 181 et seq.), provided
that the individual is provided with compensated time off equal to or
exceeding the amount established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b)
of Section 246.
(b) "Employer" means any person employing another under any
appointment or contract of hire and includes the state, political
subdivisions of the state, and municipalities.
(c) "Family member" means any of the following:
(1) A child, which for purposes of this article means a
biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or a
child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis. This definition
of a child is applicable regardless of age or dependency status.
(2) A biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal
guardian of an employee or the employee's spouse or registered
domestic partner, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the
employee was a minor child.
(3) A spouse.
(4) A registered domestic partner.
(5) A grandparent.
(6) A grandchild.
(7) A sibling.
(d) "Health care provider" has the same meaning as defined in
paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of Section 12945.2 of the Government
Code.
(e) "Paid sick days" means time that is compensated at the same
wage as the employee normally earns during regular work hours and is
provided by an employer to an employee for the purposes described in
Section 246.5.
(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.
