Employee Rights

AB 2039 (Swanson) – Pending
As Introduced on February 23, 2012

AB 2039, by Assembly Member Sandre Swanson, amends the Family Rights Act to permit an employee to take leave to care for an independent adult child with a health condition or a seriously ill grandparent, sibling, grandchild or domestic partner. AB 59 also expands the definition of “parent” to include a parent-in-law.

This bill is a rerun of AB 59, which was introduced by Assembly Member Swanson last year and was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

AB 2039 will be heard in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on March 28.

AB 1740 (Perez, V) – Concerns
As Introduced on February 17, 2012

Assembly Bill 1740, by Assembly Member V. Manuel Perez, would expand California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which currently prohibits employers from denying an individual’s right to seek, obtain and hold employment based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, age or sexual orientation.

AB 1740 would expand the bases on which such discrimination is prohibited under FEHA to include a person’s status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. The bill further expands what reasonable accommodations an employer must make for such victims, including transfer, reassignment, a modified schedule, changed work station and/or telephone, and assistance in documenting domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. CSAC is concerned with the implications of AB 1740, including a lack of specification in the bill as to how the newly-created class would be determined or documented and that expanding current law requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to victims of domestic violence would be impractical for county buildings that must be open to the public.

AB 1740 will be heard in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on March 28.

Workers’ Compensation

AB 1454 (Solorio) – Pending
As Introduced on January 9, 2012

Assembly Bill 1454, by Assembly Member Jose Solorio, would include doctors of audiology who meet specified requirements among those medical professionals who may be appointed by the administrative director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation as qualified medical evaluators (QME). To qualify as a QME, the audiologist must:

• Hold a doctorate of audiology or a Ph.D., or both, in an audiology-related profession and be licensed by the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board.
• Have not less than five years’ postdoctoral experience in the practice of audiology.
• Prior to his or her appointment as a qualified medical evaluator, pass an examination described to determine competence in evaluating medical-legal issues in the workers’ compensation system.
• When acting as a qualified medical evaluator, base the diagnosis portion of the qualified medical evaluator report on the diagnosis made by a physician who is licensed in the state to practice medicine.

AB 1454 will be heard in the Assembly Insurance Committee on March 28.