BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2536| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2536 Author: Mullin (D) Amended: 6/3/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/11/14 AYES: Hueso, Wyland, Leno, Padilla, Mitchell SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 - (Consent) See last page for vote SUBJECT : Employees: emergency rescue personnel SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill expands the definition of emergency rescue personnel to include an officer, employee, or member of a disaster medical response team sponsored or requested by the state. This bill also requires an employee who is a health care provider to notify his/her employer at the time the employee becomes designated as emergency rescue personnel and time of deployment. 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 2536 Page 2 fully paid, while he/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. Existing federal law prohibits under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), employment discrimination against a person on the basis of past military service, current military obligations, or intent to serve in the uniformed services. An employer must not deny initial employment, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment to a person on the basis of a past, present, or future service obligation. An employer must not retaliate against a person because of an action taken to enforce or exercise any USERRA right or for assisting in an USERRA investigation. In addition, certain disaster response work (and authorized training for such work) is considered "service in the uniformed services" and therefor protected under USERRA. This bill expands the definition of emergency rescue personnel to include an officer, employee, or member of a disaster medical response team sponsored or requested by the state. This bill also requires an employee who is a health care provider to notify his/her employer at the time the employee becomes designated as emergency rescue personnel and time of deployment. Prior Legislation CONTINUED AB 2536 Page 3 AB 11 (Logue, Chapter 120, Statutes of 2013) 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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 6/23/14) AFSCME, AFL-CIO California American College of Emergency Physicians California Disaster Medical Services Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents argue that this bill makes California safer by expanding the definition of emergency rescue personnel to include an officer, employee, or member of a disaster medical response team sponsored or requested by the state. Proponents contend that this bill enables many Californians to serve or consider signing up with state coordinated emergency response programs without fear of losing their full-time jobs in the event of an emergency. Proponents also argue in support of this bill's notification provision that requires a health care provider to notify his/her employer when they become a part of the disaster medical response team and when they will be deployed. Proponents argues that this specific provision provides as much advance notice as possible to plan for adequate emergency department staffing when emergency physicians deploy to help in disasters. Proponents contend that this requirement can balance the public health need of those in need of disaster assistance as well as those who seek care in emergency departments. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, CONTINUED AB 2536 Page 4 Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Vacancy PQ:d 6/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED