BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 897|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 897
Author: Gonzalez (D)
Amended: 8/20/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT: Grocery workers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill specifies that the definition of grocery
establishment does not include a retail store that has ceased
operations for six months or more. Recently signed provisions
(AB 359, Gonzalez, Chapter 212, Statutes of 2015), upon a change
in control of a "grocery establishment", require an incumbent
grocery employer to prepare a list of specified eligible grocery
workers for a successor grocery employer to hire from during a
90-day transition period.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/15 gut and amended the previous
contents of the bill, which dealt with the retention of files by
the courts, to instead address a clean-up requested by Governor
Brown to the recently signed grocery worker retention
provisions.
ANALYSIS:
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Page 2
Existing law:
1)Establishes, effective January 1, 2016, a worker retention
requirement for the change in ownership or control of grocery
establishments, as specified, which requires an incumbent
grocery employer to provide to the successor grocery employer
the name, address, date of hire, and employment occupation
classification of each eligible grocery worker.
2)Requires the successor grocery employer to maintain a
preferential hiring list of eligible grocery workers. The
successor grocery employer shall retain each eligible grocery
worker hired from the list for a period of at least 90 days
during which the eligible grocery workers shall be employed
under the terms and conditions established by the successor
and pursuant to the terms of a relevant collective bargaining
agreement, if any.
3)Provides that during the 90-day transition employment period,
the successor grocery employer shall not discharge without
cause an eligible worker.
4)Requires, at the end of the 90-day transition period, the
successor grocery employer to make a written performance
evaluation for each grocery worker. If the worker's
performance is satisfactory, the successor grocery employer
shall consider offering continued employment under the terms
and conditions established by the successor and as required by
law.
5)Defines, among others, the following terms:
a) "Grocery establishment" means a retail store that is
over 15,000 square feet in size and that sells primarily
household foodstuffs for offsite consumption, as specified.
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b) "Eligible grocery worker" means individuals whose
primary place of employment is at the grocery establishment
and who have worked for the incumbent grocery employer for
at least six months prior to the transfer. However, it
excludes managerial, supervisory or confidential employees.
c) "Change in control" means any sale, assignment,
transfer, contribution, or other disposition of all or
substantially all of the assets or a controlling interest,
including by consolidation, merger, or reorganization, of
the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls
the incumbent grocery employer or any grocery establishment
under the operation or control of either the incumbent
grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent
grocery employer.
This bill:
1)Specifies that "grocery establishment" does not include a
retail store that has ceased operations for six months or
more.
2)Specifies that this bill incorporates amendments to Section
2502 of the Labor Code, as added by Section 1 of Chapter 212
of the Statutes of 2015, and it shall become operative only if
Chapter 212 of the Statutes of 2015 becomes operative.
Background
Clean-up to the recently signed grocery worker retention bill.
This Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 359 (Chapter
212, Statutes of 2015) which, effective January 1, 2016,
requires a successor grocery employer to retain eligible grocery
workers for a 90-day transitional period and, upon completion of
that period, requires the successor grocery employer to consider
offering continued employment to those workers. Chapter 212 of
the Statutes of 2015 defines a "grocery establishment" to mean a
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retail store in this state that is over 15, 000 square feet in
size and that sells primarily household foodstuffs for offsite
consumption, as specified.
In his August 17th signature letter for AB 359, Governor Brown
stated the following, "As drafted, the bill is not clear how the
provisions apply if an incumbent grocery employer has ceased
operations. The author and sponsors have committed to clarify
that the law would not apply to a grocery store that has ceased
operations for six months or more. I look forward to receiving
that fix before the end of this legislative session."
This bill honors the commitment made to Governor Brown to
address this concern.
Wages and Working Conditions of Food Retail Workers. A 2014
study by the Food Labor Research Center at University of
California, Berkeley (commissioned by the United Food and
Commercial Workers) titled, "Shelved: How Wages and Working
Conditions for California's Food Retail Workers Have Declined as
the Industry has Thrived," made the following findings,
"California's food retail industry has shown consistent and
robust growth in sales and employment, with employment growing
faster than in the economy overall. Between 2000 and 2011, the
number of grocery stores in California - the largest segment of
food retail establishments in the state - increased by 5%, from
9,893 to 10,403. California's food retail industry paid workers
$7.7 billion in 2011, and generated gross revenue of $98.2
billion in 2013?.While California food retail industry
employment has grown in the past decade, food retail workers'
wages have declined. According to Census data, in 2010 dollars,
median hourly wages of grocery store workers - the largest
segment of food retail workers - fell from $12.97 in 1999 to
$11.33 in 2010, a decline of 12.6%. Moreover, the proportion of
food retail workers earning poverty wages increased
dramatically, from 43% in 1999 to 54% in 2010. This means that
in 2010, more than half of all California food retail workers
earned less than the hourly wage needed to reach an annual
income of $22,458, the minimum income necessary to provide them
with a low standard of living for a family of three in the
Western U.S. if they worked full-time for the full year (2,080
hours)."
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
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Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/25/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/25/15)
None received
Prepared by:Alma Perez / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
8/26/15 12:57:15
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