BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1443
                                                                  Page  1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1443 (Skinner)
          As Amended  June 16, 2014
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |78-0 |(May 15, 2014)  |SENATE: |35-0 |(July 3, 2014) |
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           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
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            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
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          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 


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