Amended in Assembly March 12, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 357


Introduced by Assembly Members Chiu and Weber

(Principal coauthor: Senator Leyva)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Chu, Gonzalez,begin delete andend delete Roger Hernándezbegin insert, and Thurmondend insert)

February 17, 2015


An actbegin insert to add Sections 518 and 519 to the Labor Code, and to amend Section 11320.31 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,end insert relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 357, as amended, Chiu. Employment: work hours:begin delete scheduling.end deletebegin insert Fair Scheduling Act of 2015.end insert

Existing law, with certain exceptions, establishes 8 hours as a day’s work and a 40-hour workweek, and requires payment of prescribed overtime compensation for additional hours worked.begin insert Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in the Department of Industrial Relations for the enforcement of labor laws, including wage claims. Existing federal law provides for the allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states, with California’s version of this program known as the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program. Under the CalWORKs program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits to qualified low-income families and individuals, and is prohibited from applying sanctions upon a recipient of CalWORKs for a failure or refusal to comply with program requirements for reasons related to employment, an offer of employment, an activity, or other training for employment for specified reasons, including, but not limited to that the employment, offer of employment, or work activity does not provide workers’ compensation insurance. Existing law establishes a statewide program to enable eligible low-income persons to receive food stamps under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in California as CalFresh, and requires counties to implement the program.end insert

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations relating to work hour scheduling for employees of food and general retail establishments.begin insert The bill would require a food and general retail establishment, as defined, to provide its employees with at least two week’s notice of their schedules, and would require those employees to receive additional pay, as specified, if those employees do not receive at least two week’s notice of their work schedule. The bill would prohibit a food and general retail establishment from discharging or discriminating against an employee because he or she is a person who receives, or is a parent, guardian, or grandparent who has custody of one or more children who receive, benefits under the CalWORKs program or a person who receives benefits under CalFresh. The bill would also require an employer to allow such an employee to, upon request, be absent from work without pay to attend any required appointments at the county human services agency, provided that the employee gives reasonable notice to the employer of the planned absence from work prior to taking time off of work. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to promulgate all regulations and rules or practice and procedure necessary to carry out these provisions. The bill would also prohibit sanctions from being applied upon a recipient of CalWORKs for failure or refusal to comply with CalWORKs program requirements if the employment or offer of employment fails to comply with these provisions.end insert

begin insert

Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
2Fairbegin delete Schedule and Pay Equityend deletebegin insert Schedulingend insert Actbegin insert of 2015end insert.

3

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

4(a) More thanbegin delete one-halfend deletebegin insert one-halfend insert of food and general retail store
5employees nationally receive their work schedules one week or
6less in advance.

7(b) According to a recent survey of employees at chain stores
8and large stores, only 40 percent of those surveyed have consistent
9minimum hours per week and the vast majority of employees find
10out from a supervisor if they are needed for the on-call shift a mere
11two hours before the shift starts. Retail industry research in New
12York City found that more than one-half of family caregivers in
13the retail industry are required to be available for on-call shifts,
14forcing them to arrange for child or elder care at the last minute.

15(c) Women are also more likely than men to work part time and
16experience unpredictability in their work schedules; one study
17found that women were 64 percent of the frontline part-time
18workforce among retail workers.

19(d) Unpredictable scheduling practices and last-minute work
20schedule changes cause workers who are already struggling with
21low wages to live in a constant state of insecurity about when they
22will work or how much they will earn on any given day. These
23practices also make it hard for employees to plan their finances
24and to plan for and obtain child care. These practices also prevent
25part-time employees from pursuing educational opportunities or
26holding a second or third job that those workers may need to make
27ends meet.

28(e) According to census data, since 2006, the number of
29“involuntary part time employees” in California nearly tripled to
301,100,000 employees. According to the federal Bureau of Labor
31Statistics, less than one-half of the retail workforce nationwide
32worksbegin delete fulltime,end deletebegin insert full time,end insert and the number of those working fewer
33than 20 hours per week has grown by 14 percent in the past decade.

34(f) According to a survey conducted in 2014 of workers who
35sell food in California, the largest producer of food in the United
36States, they are twice as likely as the general populace to be unable
37to afford sufficient quantities of the food they sell or the healthy
38kinds of food their families need, despite the financial health of
P4    1the food retail industry. According to this same survey, workers
2who were Black or Latino were far more likely to be sent home
3early with no pay, to have a shift canceled on the same day it is
4scheduled, to not be offered a lunch break, or not be paid for all
5hours worked.

6(g) For these reasons, to ensure family and financial stability
7for a vast segment of California’s workforce, those employed by
8food and general retail establishments should be afforded some
9predictability and dignity in how they are scheduled to work.

10begin insert

begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 518 is added to the end insertbegin insertLabor Codeend insertbegin insert, to read:end insert

begin insert
11

begin insert518.end insert  

(a) For purposes of this section, a “food and general
12retail establishment” means an entity that conducts any type of
13retail sales activity or a retail sales establishment that has 500 or
14more employees in this state and has 10 or more other retail sales
15establishments located in the United States of America and
16maintains two or more of the following:

17(1) A standardized array of merchandise.

18(2) A standardized facade.

19(3) A standardized decor and color scheme.

20(4) Uniform apparel.

21(5) Standardized signage.

22(6) A trademark or a service mark.

23(b) A food and general retail establishment shall provide its
24employees with at least two week’s notice of their work schedules.

25(c) If an employee is not provided with at least two week’s notice
26of his or her work schedule, the employee shall receive additional
27pay. The amount of the additional pay shall increase as the time
28the employee receives notice of his or her work schedule decreases
29from the required two week’s notice.

30(d) The Labor Commissioner shall promulgate all regulations
31and rules of practice and procedures necessary to carry out the
32provisions of this section.

33(e) A violation of this section shall not be a misdemeanor under
34Section 553.

end insert
35begin insert

begin insertSEC. 4.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 519 is added to the end insertbegin insertLabor Codeend insertbegin insert, to read:end insert

begin insert
36

begin insert519.end insert  

(a) A food and general retail establishment, as defined
37in Section 518, shall not discharge or discriminate against an
38employee because he or she is any of the following:

39(1) A person who receives CalWORKs cash aid.

P5    1(2) A parent, guardian, or grandparent who has custody of one
2or more children who receive CalWORKs cash aid.

3(3) A person who receives CalFresh food assistance.

4(b) A food and general retail establishment, as defined in Section
5518, shall allow an employee described in subdivision (a) to be
6absent from work without pay, upon request, to attend any required
7appointments at the county human services agency, provided that
8the employee gives reasonable notice to the employer of the
9planned absence prior to taking the time off.

10(c) The Labor Commissioner shall promulgate all regulations
11and rules of practice and procedures necessary to carry out the
12provisions of this section.

13(d) A violation of this section shall not be a misdemeanor under
14Section 553.

end insert
15begin insert

begin insertSEC. 5.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 11320.31 of the end insertbegin insertWelfare and Institutions Codeend insert
16begin insert is amended to read:end insert

17

11320.31.  

Sanctions shall not be applied for a failure or refusal
18to comply with program requirements for reasons related to
19employment, an offer of employment, an activity, or other training
20for employment including, but not limited to, the following reasons:

21(a) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other
22training for employment discriminates on any basis listed in
23subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as those
24bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the
25Government Code, except as otherwise provided in Section 12940
26of the Government Code.

27(b) The employment or offer of employment exceeds the daily
28or weekly hours of work customary to the occupation.

29(c) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other
30training for employment requires travel to and from the place of
31employment, activity, or other training and one’s home that exceeds
32a total of two hours in round-trip time, exclusive of the time
33necessary to transport family members to a school or place
34providing care, or, when walking is the only available means of
35transportation, the round-trip is more than two miles, exclusive of
36the mileage necessary to accompany family members to a school
37or a place providing care. An individual who fails or refuses to
38comply with the program requirements based on this subdivision
39shall be required to participate in community service activities
40pursuant to Section 11322.9.

P6    1(d) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other
2training for employment involves conditions that are in violation
3of applicable health and safety standards.

4(e) The employment, offer of employment, or work activity
5does not provide for workers’ compensation insurance.

6(f) Accepting the employment or work activity would cause an
7interruption in an approved education or job training program in
8progress that would otherwise lead to employment and sufficient
9income to be self-supporting, excluding work experience or
10community service employment as described in subdivisions (d)
11and (j) of Section 11322.6 and Section 11322.9 or other community
12work experience assignments, except that a recipient may be
13required to engage in welfare-to-work activities to the extent
14necessary to meet the hours of participation required by Section
1511322.8.

16(g) Accepting the employment, offer of employment, or work
17activity would cause the individual to violate the terms of his or
18her union membership.

begin insert

19(h) The employment or offer of employment fails to comply with
20the Fair Scheduling Act of 2015 (Sections 518 and 519 of the Labor
21Code).

end insert
begin insert
22

begin insertSEC. 6.end insert  

No appropriation pursuant to Section 15200 of the
23Welfare and Institutions Code shall be made for purposes of
24implementing this act.

end insert


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