AB 465, as amended, Roger Hernández. Contracts against public policy.
Existing law declares that negotiation of terms and conditions of labor should result from voluntary agreement between employer and employee. Existing law provides that any person who coerces or compels any other person to enter into an agreement, written or verbal, not to join or become a member of any labor organization, as a condition of securing employment or continuing in employment, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would prohibit any person from requiring another person, as a condition of employment, to agree to the waiver of any legal right, penalty, forum, or procedure for any employment law violations. The bill would prohibit a person from threatening, retaliating against, or discriminating against another person based on a refusal to agree to such waiver, and would provide that any such waiver required from an employee or
potential employee as a condition of employment or continued employment is unconscionable, against public policy, and unenforceable. The bill would require that any waiver of a person’s employmentbegin delete rightsend deletebegin insert rights, not prohibited by state or federal law,end insert be knowing and voluntary and in writing, and expressly not made as a condition of employment. The bill would provide that a person seeking to enforce a waiver has the burden of proof to show that the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The bill would apply to any waiver agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2016, and would impose a $10,000 penalty against the employer for each violation of its provisions, with the penalty moneys and reasonable attorney’s fees awarded to the prevailing claimant.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is
2the policy of the State of California to ensure that all persons have
3the full benefit of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, and
4procedures established in the Labor Code, and that individuals not
5be deprived of those rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or
6procedures through the use of involuntary or coerced waivers.
7(b) It is the purpose of this act to ensure that a contract to waive
8any of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures under
9the Labor Code, including any provision that has the effect of
10limiting the full application or enforcement of any right, remedy,
11forum,
or procedure available under the Labor Code, is a matter
12of voluntary consent, not coercion.
Section 925 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
(a) A person shall not require another person to waive
15any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation
16of any provision of this code, as a condition of employment,
17including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint
18with, or otherwise notify, the Labor Commissioner, state agency,
19other public prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or any court or
20other governmental entity.
21(b) A person shall not threaten, retaliate, or discriminate against
22another person on the basis that the other person refuses to waive
23any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation
24of this code, including the right to file and pursue a civil action
or
25complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Labor Commissioner, state
P3 1agency, other public prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or any
2court or other governmental entity.
3(c) begin deleteAny end deletebegin insertExcept for any legal right, penalty, forum, or procedure
4that state or federal law prohibits from being waived, any end insertwaiver
5of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a
6violation of this code, including the right to file and pursue a civil
7action or complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Labor
8Commissioner, state agency, other public prosecutor, law
9enforcement agency, or any court or other governmental entity
10shall be knowing and voluntary and in writing, and expressly not
11made as a condition
of employment.
12(d) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
13procedure for a violation of this code that is required as a condition
14of employment shall be deemed involuntary, unconscionable,
15against public policy, and unenforceable. Nothing in this
16subdivision shall affect the enforceability or validity of any other
17provision of the contract.
18(e) Any person who seeks to enforce a waiver of any legal right,
19penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this code
20shall have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and
21voluntary and not made as a condition of employment.
22(f) This section shall apply to any agreement to waive any legal
23right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a
violation of this
24code, including an agreement to accept private arbitration, entered
25into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after January
261, 2016.
27(g) In addition to any other remedies available, a person who
28violates this section is liable for a civil penalty not exceeding ten
29thousand dollars ($10,000) per individual for each violation of this
30section and reasonable attorney’s fees.
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