BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2053
Author: Gonzalez (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/25/14
AYES: Hueso, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Mitchell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-18, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Employment discrimination or harassment: education
and training
SOURCE : California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
DIGEST : This bill expands on existing law related to sexual
harassment training for supervisory employees to also include
training on the prevention of abusive conduct.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Prohibits, under the Fair Employment and Housing Act,
harassment and discrimination in employment because of, among
others, race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual
orientation, age and/or retaliation for protesting illegal
discrimination related to one of these categories.
2.Requires employers to ensure a workplace free of sexual
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harassment by implementing minimum requirements which include
the posting of information at the worksite regarding the
illegality of sexual harassment and distributing to employees
an information sheet on sexual harassment.
3.Requires employers of 50 or more employees to provide at least
two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training
and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory
employees within six months of their assumption of a
supervisory position, and thereafter every two years. This
training is intended to establish a minimum threshold and does
not discourage for longer, more frequent, or more elaborate
training and education regarding workplace harassment. If an
employer violates these requirements, the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing may seek an order requiring compliance.
4.The training and education required must include, among other
things:
A. Information and practical guidance regarding federal and
state law on sexual harassment prevention and remedies
available for victims of sexual harassment in employment;
B. Practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in
the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and
retaliation.
This bill:
1.Requires existing training and education regarding sexual
harassment to also include the prevention of "abusive conduct"
as a component of its programs.
2.Defines "abusive conduct" to mean conduct of an employer or
employee in the workplace, with malice, that a reasonable
person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an
employer's legitimate business interests. Abusive conduct may
include repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use
of derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets, verbal or
physical conduct that a reasonable person would find
threatening, intimidating, or humiliating, or the gratuitous
sabotage or undermining of a person's work performance.
3.Specifies that a single act shall not constitute abusive
conduct, unless especially severe or egregious.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/31/14)
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
American Society of Training & Development, San Diego Chapter
California Conference of Machinists
California Conference of the Amalgamated Transit Union
California Labor Federation, ALF-CIO
Consumer Attorneys of California
Engineers & Scientists, IFPTE Local 20
International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Coast Division
National Workplace Bullying Coalition
Professional & Technical Engineers, IFTPE Local 21
UNITE HERE
Utility Workers Union of America, Local 132
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/31/14)
California Association for Health Services at Home
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to proponents, abusive work
environments are unfortunately a growing epidemic throughout the
nation. The author argues that this type of abusive work
environments can reduce productivity and morale, which may lead
to higher absenteeism rates, frequent turnover, and even
increases in medical and workers' compensation claims. According
to proponents, studies have estimated the financial cost of
workplace abuse being as much as $200 billion annually.
This bill aims to prevent workplace bullying by requiring the
inclusion of training and education of "abusive conduct" to the
already required sexual harassment training that every
supervisor of entities with more than 50 employees has to go
through every two years. According to proponents, this bill
takes a measured approach to the problem and rather than being
punitive, the bill seeks to prevent this from happening in the
first place by educating managers. Moreover, it couples this
education with sexual harassment training as it is not uncommon
for the two problems to occur hand in hand.
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : According to the California
Association for Health Services at Home, existing law requires
employers to provide sexual harassment training to all
supervisory employees and encourages that additional training
and educational programs be included to help ensure a safe
workplace. They argue that nothing prevents an employer from
incorporating into existing harassment programs further training
relative to abusive conduct. However, they argue that if
enacted, this bill would increase employer costs through the
establishment of a new employer mandate.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-18, 05/15/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Pan, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Logue, Melendez, Olsen,
Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Mansoor, Nestande, Vacancy
PQ:nl 7/31/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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