BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 288 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 288 (Lieu) As Amended April 1, 2013 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :34-0 LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 14-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Roger Hernández, Morrell, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |Alejo, Chau, Gomez, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |Gorell, Holden | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, | | | | |Gomez, Hall, Holden, | | | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, Weber | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | |Nays:|Donnelly | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Authorizes victims of specified crimes to take protected leave from their employment to appear in court. Specifically, this bill : 1)Provides that an employer may not discharge or discriminate or retaliate against an employee for taking time off from work to appear in court to be heard at any proceeding where the employee is a victim of the following offenses: a) Vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. b) Felony child abuse likely to produce great bodily harm or death. c) Assault resulting in the death of a child under eight years of age. d) Felony domestic violence. e) Felony physical abuse of an elder or dependent adult. f) Felony stalking. g) Solicitation for murder. SB 288 Page 2 h) A serious felony. i) Hit and run causing death or injury. j) Felony driving under the influence causing injury. 2)Defines, for purposes of this requirement, a proceeding to include any delinquency proceeding, any proceeding involving a post-arrest release decision, plea, sentencing, post-conviction release decision, or any proceeding where a right of the victim is at issue. 3)Defines a victim as any person who suffers direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result or attempted commission of crime or delinquent act. The term "victim" also includes the person's spouse, parent, child, sibling or guardian. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in minor and absorbable costs to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. COMMENTS : According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, nearly one in four women and one in seven men in the United States have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner - among victims of intimate partner violence, more than one in three women experienced multiple forms of rape, stalking, or physical violence. One in six women and one in 19 men in the United States have experienced stalking victimization in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed. In California, through the passage of Proposition 9 in 2008 (also known as Marsy's Law), a crime victim has the right to be heard, upon request, at any proceeding. However, despite having that right, utilizing that right would not be employment-protected. Therefore, while a crime victim has delineated rights in the Constitution, he or she could be terminated for utilizing them. This bill would address this by providing an employee with protected leave to participate in a hearing if they are the victim of serious crime, including domestic violence, stalking, SB 288 Page 3 murder, kidnapping, or rape. Supporters note that the California Constitution provides that crime victims have the right to be heard, upon request, in all of the proceedings covered by this bill. Supporters also note that there is no employment protection for a victim who desires to appear in a criminal or juvenile court proceeding to be heard on pleas, sentencing, release issues or other matters that may affect the rights of the victim. Supporters argue that this inhibits the ability of crime victims to avail themselves of their constitutional rights. Supporters believe that this bill will address this by allowing workers protected leave if they are the victim of serious felonies, such as homicide, rape, and crimes involving the infliction of great bodily injury. Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN: 0001413