Silver Taube: Six new employment laws that protect workers

In an Oct. 10, 2024 San José Spotlight column, I discussed employment laws that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed to advance workers’ rights. Newsom also signed additional laws that protect workers and went into effect on Jan. 1.

Driver’s license requirement prohibited in job postings

Senate Bill 1100 prohibits statements in job advertisements, postings, applications and other employment materials that an applicant must have a driver’s license. There are exceptions for when the employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the job functions for the position, and when the employer reasonably believes satisfying the job function using an alternative form of transportation would not be comparable in travel time or cost to them.

Workplace restraining orders

Senate Bill 428 expands the California Code of Civil Procedure 527.8 to allow employers to seek a temporary restraining order against an individual not only for violence and threats of violence, but also harassment. Harassment is a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a person that seriously alarms, annoys or harasses the person, would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress and actually causes substantial emotional distress.

Protections for combination of protected traits

Senate Bill 1137 prohibits discrimination and harassment not only on the basis of individual protected traits, but also on the basis of the intersectionality or combination of two or more protected traits.

Increased protections for independent contractors and freelance workers

Senate Bill 988 includes increased protections for independent contractors and freelance workers. It affects contracts entered into or renewed on or after Jan. 1 between a hiring party and freelance worker, and provides new protections for freelance workers against retaliation.

Under the law, a “freelance worker” refers to a person or organization composed of no more than one person — whether or not incorporated or employing a trade name — hired or retained as a bona fide independent contractor to provide services in exchange for $250 or more, either by itself or when aggregated with all contracts for services in the preceding 120 days.

Any contract must be in writing and include the names and addresses of both parties; an itemized list of services, their value and the compensation method; payment due dates or mechanisms for determining them; and due dates for the freelance worker to submit a list of services rendered under the contract to meet the hiring party’s internal processing deadlines for timely payment. Employers must pay freelance workers on or before the date specified by the contract or within 30 days after completion of the work if no date is specified.

Changes in workers’ compensation notices

Under Assembly Bill 1870, California employers are required to update their workers’ compensation notices to inform employees of their right to consult a licensed attorney about their workers’ compensation rights. The notice must also state that attorney’s fees may be paid from the employee’s recovery if they pursue a claim. The California Department of Industrial Relations has updated the notice and time of hire pamphlet provided to employees.

Paid sick leave use for agricultural employees

Under Senate Bill 1105, California’s paid sick leave law allows agricultural employees who work outside to use paid sick leave to avoid smoke, heat or flooding conditions created by a local or state emergency, including but not limited to when the employee’s worksite is closed due to smoke, heat or flooding.

These laws affect workers in a wide range of occupations and are the result of advocacy by unions, worker centers and community-based organizations for workers’ rights.

San José Spotlight columnist Ruth Silver Taube is supervising attorney of the Workers’ Rights Clinic at the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, supervising attorney of the Santa Clara County’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement Legal Advice Line and a member of Santa Clara County’s Fair Workplace Collaborative. Her columns appear every second Thursday of the month. Contact her at [email protected].