Bill Text: CA SB725 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Senate Bill 725

Bill Title: Grocery workers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-25 - Veto sustained. [SB725 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB725-Enrolled.html

Enrolled September 19, 2023

Passed IN Senate September 14, 2023

Passed IN Assembly September 14, 2023

Amended IN Assembly September 08, 2023

Amended IN Senate May 22, 2023

Amended IN Senate March 20, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 725

Introduced by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas

February 16, 2023

An act to amend Sections 2502 and 2512 of, and to add Sections 2507 and 2517 to, the Labor Code, relating to private employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 725, Smallwood-Cuevas. Grocery workers.

Existing law, upon change in control of a grocery establishment, provides for, among other things, a transition employment period for eligible grocery workers by requiring a successor grocery employer to hire from a list of eligible grocery workers provided by the incumbent grocery employer and to retain those employees for 90 days, except as specified.

This bill would revise the definitions of “change in control,” “grocery establishment,” and “successor grocery employer,” and would add a definition for “job classification” for purposes of those provisions. The bill, for a successor grocery employer that, after a change in control, will own, control, or operate 20 or more grocery establishments, would require the successor grocery employer to provide an eligible grocery employee a dislocated grocery worker allowance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment with the incumbent grocery employer if the successor grocery employer does not hire an eligible grocery worker following a change in control or does not retain an eligible grocery worker for at least 90 days following the change in control or the eligible grocery worker’s employment commencement date, except as specified.

Existing law specifies that parties may, by collective bargaining agreement, provide that the collective bargaining agreement supersedes the provisions described above providing for employment protections for grocery workers.

This bill would require the collective bargaining agreement to explicitly set forth the requirements that are superseded, as specified.

This bill would also exempt certain incumbent grocery employers and successor grocery employers, based upon their total nationwide employment, from all of the above-described requirements.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 2502 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

2502.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Change in control” means any sale, purchase, assignment, acquisition, transfer, contribution, or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets, cash on hand, or a controlling interest, including by consolidation, merger, or reorganization, of or by the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer or any grocery establishment under the operation or control of either the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer.

(b) “Eligible grocery worker” means any individual whose primary place of employment is at the grocery establishment subject to a change in control, and who has worked for the incumbent grocery employer for at least six months prior to the execution of the transfer document. “Eligible grocery worker” does not include a managerial, supervisory, or confidential employee.

(c) “Employment commencement date” means the date on which an eligible grocery worker retained by the successor grocery employer pursuant to this part commences work for the successor grocery employer in exchange for benefits and compensation under the terms and conditions established by the successor grocery employer and as required by law.

(d) “Grocery establishment” means a retail store in this state that is over 15,000 square feet in size and that sells primarily household foodstuffs for offsite consumption, including the sale of fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry foods, beverages, baked foods, or prepared foods. Other household supplies or other products shall be secondary to the primary purpose of food sales. A distribution center owned and operated by a grocery establishment and used primarily to distribute goods to or from its owned stores shall be considered a grocery establishment regardless of its square footage. A grocery establishment does not include a retail store that has ceased operations for 12 months or more.

(e) “Incumbent grocery employer” means the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment at the time of the change in control.

(f) “Job classification” means a system for categorizing certain duties into certain jobs.

(g) “Person” means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.

(h) “Successor grocery employer” means the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment after the change in control. A successor grocery employer may be the same entity as an incumbent employer when a change in control occurs but the covered employer remains the same.

(i) “Transfer document” means the purchase agreement or other document effecting the change in control.

SEC. 2.

Section 2507 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

2507.

(a) This section shall only apply to a successor grocery employer that, after a change in control, will own, control, or operate 20 or more grocery establishments.

(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of this part, if a successor grocery employer does not hire an eligible grocery worker following a change in control or does not retain an eligible grocery worker for at least 90 days following the change in control or the eligible grocery worker’s employment commencement date, whichever is later, the successor grocery company shall, unless the eligible grocery worker has quit or has been discharged for cause, provide the eligible grocery employee a dislocated grocery worker allowance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment with the incumbent grocery employer. The rate of the dislocated grocery worker allowance shall be the average regular rate of compensation received during the eligible grocery worker’s last three years of employment with the incumbent grocery employer or the final regular rate of compensation paid to the eligible grocery worker, whichever rate is higher. The successor grocery employer shall provide the greater of the dislocated grocery worker allowance required pursuant to this subdivision or the dislocated grocery worker allowance required pursuant to the terms of a relevant collective bargaining agreement, if any.

SEC. 3.

Section 2512 of the Labor Code is amended to read:

2512.

Parties subject to this part may, by collective bargaining agreement, provide that the agreement supersedes the requirements of this part, in whole or in part, but only if the agreement explicitly sets forth in clear and unambiguous terms the requirements of this part that are superseded.

SEC. 4.

Section 2517 is added to the Labor Code, to read:

2517.

(a) This part shall not apply to an incumbent grocery employer and the successor grocery employer executing the transfer document with that incumbent grocery employer, if the sum of both of the following is less than 300:

(1) The number of grocery workers employed, immediately prior to the change in control, by the incumbent grocery employer across that employer’s grocery establishments nationwide.

(2) The number of grocery workers employed, immediately prior to the change in control, by the successor grocery employer across that employer’s grocery establishments nationwide.

(b) Notwithstanding any law, and for purposes of this section only, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Grocery establishment” as used in this section has the same meaning as defined in Section 2502, but shall also include grocery establishments in other states in the United States.

(2) “Grocery worker” as used in this section means any individual whose primary place of employment is at a grocery establishment that is owned, controlled, or operated by the incumbent or successor grocery employer, as applicable.