Governor Brown concluded legislative business by the October 15 deadline, ultimately signing 859 bills into law. The ink has barely had time to dry, but with most of the new laws set to take effect on January 1, it is important that counties are aware of them so you can best prepare should you need to modify existing practices.

CSAC will be publishing a series of new law updates featuring articles from each policy area. This week, the report from the Government Finance and Administration (GF&A) policy unit provides information on hiring practice requirements, employee leave time, and business license issuance. Stay tuned for more updates from other policy areas over the next coming weeks.

The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2018 unless otherwise noted. Also note that the following list does not include every new law related to GF&A, but only those that necessitate immediate attention. For the full list of GF&A measures signed into law or vetoed, click here.

Hiring Practices

AB 168 prohibits public and private employers from seeking salary history information about an applicant for employment. The law also requires an employer to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant upon reasonable request.

Link to the full text of AB 168

AB 1008 prohibits an employer, with certain exceptions, from inquiring about or considering a job applicant’s conviction history prior to a conditional offer of employment, and sets requirements regarding the consideration of conviction histories in employment decisions. This expands the “ban the box” practices for public employers. Exceptions include positions with criminal justice agencies, healthcare positions, or positions in which state or local agencies are required to conduct background checks.

Link to the full text of AB 1008

Parental Leave for Employees

SB 63 requires employers of 20 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected parental leave for employees with more than 12 months of service with the employer and who have at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period.

Link to the full text of SB 63

Employee Orientation

AB 119 mandates union access to new employee orientation based on locally negotiated terms for the structure, time, and manner of the access. If negotiations are unsuccessful, any remaining disputes are to be resolved through compulsory interest arbitration. (Effective as of June 24, 2017)A CSAC hosted Webinar and summary of key provisions provide additional information.

Link to the full text of AB 119

Transportation Services Business Licensure

SB 182 permits business licensure of drivers for transportation network companies (Uber, Lyft) based on the place of the drivers’ residence and prohibits local agencies from requiring a business license if the driver has one from another jurisdiction or the county of residence does not require a business license for other businesses.

Link to the full text of SB 182

AB 1069 allows cities and counties to regulate taxicabs only if the taxicab is operated and substantially located within its jurisdiction. Permits a JPA or regional transportation authority to provide the administration and regulation of taxi cab operations. (Effective January 1, 2019)

Link to the full text of AB 1069

CSAC-Sponsored Bill

AB 467 authorizes local transportation agencies and county elections officials to post transportation tax expenditure plans online in lieu of hard copy printing, as long as voters may still receive a hard copy upon request.

Link to the full text of AB 467