BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 1999 (Brownley) - Employment: family caregiver status 
          protection.
          
          Amended: April 30, 2012         Policy Vote: Judiciary 3-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: August 6, 2012                      Consultant: 
          Bob Franzoia  
          
          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.


          Bill Summary: AB 1999 would amend employment provisions of the 
          Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to prohibit 
          discrimination based on the family caregiver status of an 
          employee.

          Fiscal Impact: Estimated $140,000 annually to the General Fund 
          to investigate employment discrimination complaints filed with 
          the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

          Background: The FEHA protects persons against discrimination in 
          employment, housing, public accommodation, and business services 
          based on specified personal characteristics.  These 
          characteristics include sex, race, color, national origin, 
          marital status, religion, sexual orientation, age and 
          disability.

          Proposed Law: This bill adds family caregiver status to the list 
          of protected classes with respect to employment discrimination.  
          For purposes of the employment sections of the FEHA, family 
          caregiver status refers to an employee's responsibility for care 
          or support of a family member.

          Related Legislation: AB 1001 (Skinner) 2009 proposed including 
          "familial status" as an additional basis upon which the right to 
          seek, obtain, and hold employment cannot be denied.  That bill 
          would, for employment purposes, define "familial status" as 
          having or providing care for a child, domestic partner, 
          grandchild, grandparent, parent, parent-in-law, sibling, or 
          spouse.  AB 1001 was held in the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee.  The estimated fiscal impact of that bill was up to 
          $740,000 annually from the General Fund.








          AB 1999 (Brownley)
          Page 1



          Staff Comments: A study by The Center for Worklife Law, 
          Caregivers as a Protected Class? noted that at least 26 family 
          responsibilities discrimination jurisdictions authorize a 
          private right of action whereby an employee who believes he or 
          she has experienced familial status discrimination at work may 
          seek relief in court.  About two-thirds of these jurisdictions 
          allow the employee to go directly to court without exhausting 
          any administrative requirements or in addition to pursuing an 
          administrative process.  The remaining jurisdictions require 
          exhaustion of some administrative process before the employee 
          can seek relief in court.  The administrative requirement may be 
          as simple as filing a certified compliant and obtaining a right 
          to sue letter.

          This analysis estimates the DFEH will have annual costs of 
          $138,750 to add 1.5 personnel years ($62,500 for salary and 
          $29,600 benefits for a total of $92,500) to investigate 
          additional complaints (170) anticipated to be filed if this bill 
          is enacted.  This estimate is significantly lower than estimates 
          for SB 836 (Kuehl) 2007 or AB 1001 (Skinner) 2009 because the 
          DFEH has implemented case processing innovations and is 
          currently transitioning to a cloud based electronic case 
          management system that have significantly reduced caseloads and 
          made case processing much more efficient.  Additionally, this 
          bill is much narrower in scope than the above noted bills.

          The 170 additional complaints estimated to be filed annually 
          will generate investigations but are not anticipated to generate 
          significant prosecution.  Regardless of protected basis or 
          alleged harm, most complaints filed for investigation do not 
          reach the DFEH's legal division because the investigations are 
          settled or closed for lack of merit.