BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    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  
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          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  


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          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,  

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            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

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