BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1443 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1443 (Skinner) As Amended June 16, 2014 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(May 15, 2014) |SENATE: |35-0 |(July 3, 2014) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: L. & E. SUMMARY : Extends certain employment discrimination and harassment provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to unpaid interns. The Senate amendments add coauthors and make technical and conforming changes. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides that it is unlawful for any person to discriminate against any person in the selection or training of that person in any apprenticeship training program or any other training program leading to employment because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status of the person discriminated against. 2)Provides that it is unlawful for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program or any training program leading to employment, or any other person, because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status, to harass an employee, an applicant, or a person providing services pursuant to a contract. 3)Provides that harassment of an employee, an applicant, or a person providing services pursuant to a contract by an employee, other than an agent or supervisor, shall be unlawful if the entity, or its agents or supervisors, knows or should AB 1443 Page 2 have known of this conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. 4)Provides that an employer may also be responsible for the acts of nonemployees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees, applicants, or persons providing services pursuant to a contract in the workplace, where the employer, or its agents or supervisors, knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: 1)Expanded discrimination protections for apprentices in termination or other terms or treatment of that apprentice in an apprenticeship training program. 2)Expanded discrimination protections to cover a person in an unpaid internship, or any other program to provide unpaid experience for that person in the workplace or industry. 3)Prohibited harassment by an employer of an unpaid intern or volunteer. 4)Extended religious belief discrimination protection and accommodation requirements to an individual in an apprenticeship training program, an unpaid internship, and any other program to provide unpaid experience for a person in the workplace or industry. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : Existing state law (FEHA) already provides protections for employees, applicants, and specified contractors against unlawful discrimination and harassment. This bill would generally extend these provisions of FEHA to include protections for unpaid interns and volunteers, and makes additional clarifying changes to existing law. The author argues that this bill is necessary because neither federal nor state law explicitly protects unpaid interns from harassment or discrimination. Supporters argue that many interns work alongside and undertake the same duties as their employed counterparts. They are AB 1443 Page 3 subjected to similar treatment from supervisors and exposed to the same workplace environment as those employed by the companies and organizations for which they intern. Moreover, several professional graduate programs require or at least typically include some type of internship placement before completion, including social work, law, education and nursing. There is no opposition on file. Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN: 0004168