BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 11| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 11 Author: Logue (R) Amended: 1/28/13 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/12/13 AYES: Monning, Leno, Padilla, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Employees: reserve peace officers and emergency rescue personnel SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill requires an employer employing 50 or more employees to allow an employee who performs duty as a reserve peace officer or emergency rescue personnel to take temporary leaves of absence, for up to 14 days in a calendar year, to engage in fire, law enforcement, or emergency rescue training. ANALYSIS : Existing law defines emergency rescue personal as any person who is an officer, employee, or member of a fire department or fire protection or firefighting agency of the federal government, State of California, a city, county, among others, whether that person is a volunteer or partly paid or CONTINUED AB 11 Page 2 fully paid, while he or she is actually engaged in providing emergency services. Existing law states that no employer shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against an employee for taking time off to perform emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, a reserve peace officer, or emergency rescue personnel. Existing law requires an employer employing 50 or more employees to permit an employee who is a volunteer firefighter to take temporary leaves of absence, not to exceed 14 days per calendar year, for the purpose of engaging in fire or law enforcement training. Existing law states that an employee who works for an employer employing 50 or more employees who is discharged, threatened with discharge, demoted, suspended, or in any other manner discriminated against for taking time off to engage in fire or law enforcement training is entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits. This bill requires an employer employing 50 or more employees to allow an employee who performs duty as a reserve peace officer or emergency rescue personnel to take temporary leaves of absence, for up to 14 days in a calendar year, to engage in fire, law enforcement, or emergency rescue training. Comments According to the author's office, this bill was brought to his attention by a constituent from Butte County, who is a volunteer Search and Rescue Captain. Under current Labor Code, employers cannot discharge or discriminate against an employee for taking time off to perform emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, a reserve peace officer, or emergency rescue personnel. While the law protects the right of these individuals to take time off work for responding to actual emergencies, only volunteer firefighters receive job protection for taking a temporary leave of absence to participate in fire or law enforcement training. This bill would add the classifications of reserve peace officers and emergency rescue personnel to the provision of the law dealing with protected leave of absence for specified training, thereby providing the same job protections available to volunteer firefighters. CONTINUED AB 11 Page 3 Prior Legislation AB 2535 (Oller, Chapter 361, Statutes of 2000), allows volunteer firefighters, who work for employers with 50 or more employees, to take unpaid leave of up to 14 days per year for fire or law enforcement training. Also provides that that any employee who is discriminated against for taking leave for these purposes, shall be entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages. SB 1353 (Rainey, Chapter 244, Statutes of 2000), prohibits an employer from discharging or discriminating against an employee who takes time off work to perform emergency duty as a reserve peace officer or emergency rescue personnel. Also entitles any employee who is wrongfully discharged or discriminated against to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and benefits. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/20/13) California Police Chiefs Association California State Sheriffs' Association San Bernardino County Sheriff ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Vacancy PQ:nl 6/26/13 Senate Floor Analyses CONTINUED AB 11 Page 4 SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED