BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 404 (Jackson) - Fair Employment: Familial Status.
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: Judiciary 5-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 15, 2013
Consultant: Robert Ingenito
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 404 would amend employment provisions of the
Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to prohibit
discrimination based on the family caregiver status of an
employee.
Fiscal Impact: Estimated $140,000 annually to the General Fund
to investigate employment discrimination complaints filed with
the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).
Background: The FEHA protects persons against discrimination in
employment, housing, public accommodation, and business services
based on specified personal characteristics. These
characteristics include sex, race, color, national origin,
marital status, religion, sexual orientation, age and
disability.
Proposed Law: This bill adds family caregiver status to the list
of protected classes with respect to employment discrimination.
For purposes of the employment sections of the FEHA, family
caregiver status refers to an employee's responsibility for care
or support of a family member.
Related Legislation: This bill is substantially similar to AB
1999 (Brownley, 2012) which was held on suspense in this
committee.
AB 1001 (Skinner) 2009 proposed including "familial status" as
an additional basis upon which the right to seek, obtain, and
hold employment cannot be denied. That bill would, for
employment purposes, define "familial status" as having or
providing care for a child, domestic partner, grandchild,
grandparent, parent, parent-in-law, sibling, or spouse. AB 1001
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was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The
estimated fiscal impact of that bill was up to $740,000 annually
from the General Fund.
AB 2039 (Swanson) would increase the circumstances under which
an employee is entitled to protected leave under the California
Family Rights Act. That bill is on the Suspense File.
Staff Comments: DFEH anticipates that the inclusion of "familial
status" among the bases upon which employment discrimination is
prohibited would cause a non-absorbable increase in workload
related to the number of complaints filed for investigation.
Specifically, DFEH estimates on-going costs of $138,750 to add
1.5 positions to investigate the additional complaints it
anticipates would be filed if SB 404 is enacted. DFEH would not
receive federal reimbursement for the investigation and
prosecution of these additional complaints under its workshare
agreement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
DEFH already investigates complaints involving large employers'
(50 or more employees within 75-miles of worksite)
discrimination of employees' qualified California Family Rights
Act (CFRA) leave to care for a child, parent and/or spouse.
Thus, investigations of these claims for all FEHA employers
under SB 404 could be absorbed. However, the bill's addition of
new familial status relationships-sibling, parent-in-law,
grandparent and grandchild-would not be absorbable. Based on
nearly 800 CFRA complaints filed in 2011, DFEH estimates the
addition of new family relationships could result in 144 more
employment discrimination complaints (an increase of 18 percent)
filed in the familial status discrimination category.
The 144 additional complaints estimated to be filed annually
would generate investigations but are not anticipated to lead to
significant workload related to prosecution. Generally, less
than one percent of complaints filed with DFEH result in
prosecutions.
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