BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 579|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  SB 579
          Author:   Jackson (D)
          Amended:  4/15/15  
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE:  4-1, 4/22/15
           AYES:  Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
           NOES:  Stone

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8 

           SUBJECT:   Employees: time off


          SOURCE:    Child Care Law Center 
                     Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center 


          DIGEST:  This bill expands on the currently authorized reasons  
          for which an employee can take job-protected time off of work  
          without the fear of discrimination or discharge by 1) allowing  
          workers to use their paid sick days to care for a child during a  
          child care or school emergency (which may include behavioral or  
          discipline problems with a child, closure of the facility, a  
          disaster or extreme weather condition); and 2) allowing workers  
          to take job-protected time off from work to find child care or  
          school for their children and to enroll them. 


          ANALYSIS:   


          Existing law, under the Family School Partnership Act: 








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           1) Prohibits an employer who employs 25 or more employees  
             working at the same location from discharging or  
             discriminating against an employee who is a parent, guardian,  
             or grandparent having custody of a child in a licensed child  
             day care facility or in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12,  
             inclusive, for taking up to 40 hours each year of time off  
             (not exceeding eight hours in any calendar month of the  
             year), to participate in activities of the school or licensed  
             child day care facility of any of his/her children.  (Labor  
             Code §230.8)


           2) Requires the employee, prior to taking the time off, to give  
             reasonable notice to the employer of the planned absence of  
             the employee. 


           3) Requires an employee to provide documentation regarding  
             these activities upon request by an employer.


           4) Requires the employee to utilize existing vacation, personal  
             leave, or compensatory time off for purposes of the planned  
             absence.


           5) Authorizes the employee to utilize time off without pay for  
             this purpose, to the extent available by his/her employer. 


           6) Provides remedies to employees discharged, demoted, or in  
             any other manner discriminated against as a result of his/her  
             exercise of this right.


          Existing law, under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act  
             of 2014:

           7) States that starting on July 1, 2015, an employee who works  
             in California for 30 or more days within a year from the  
             commencement of employment is entitled to paid sick days at  
             the rate of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked  







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             (to be taken after the 90th day of employment). 

           8) Allows employers to limit the use of paid sick days to 24  
             hours or 3 days per year. 

           9) Requires, upon the oral or written request of an employee,  
             an employer to provide paid sick days for:

              a)    Diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health  
                condition of, or preventive care for, the employee or the  
                employee's family member (defined as a child, parent,  
                spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent,  
                grandchild and sibling). 

              b)    For specified purposes, as defined, for an employee  
                who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or  
                stalking. 

           10)Prohibits an employer from denying an employee the right to  
             use accrued sick days, discharge, threaten to discharge,  
             demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate against an  
             employee for using accrued sick days, attempting to exercise  
             the right to use accrued sick days, filing a complaint with  
             the department or alleging a violation of this article,  
             cooperating in an investigation or prosecution of an alleged  
             violation of this article, or opposing any policy or practice  
             or act that is prohibited by this article.
           
           Existing law, under the Kin Care law:

           11)Requires an employer to permit an employee to use the  
             employee's accrued and available sick leave entitlement to  
             attend to the illness of a child, parent, spouse, or domestic  
             partner of the employee and prohibits an employer from  
             denying an employee the right to use sick leave or taking  
             specific discriminatory action against an employee for using,  
             or attempting to exercise the right to use, sick leave to  
             attend to such an illness.  
           
           This bill expands on the currently authorized reasons for which  
          an employee can take job-protected time off of work without the  
          fear of discrimination or discharge.  Specifically, this bill:

           1) Authorizes employees to take time off (whether unpaid or  







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             paid using vacation or other compensated leave) to find,  
             enroll, or reenroll his/her child in a school or a licensed  
             day care facility.

           2) Authorizes employees to use paid sick days to address a  
             child care or school emergency. 

           3) Defines "child care or school emergency" to mean that an  
             employee's child cannot remain in a school or child care  
             facility due to one of the following:

                   Illness of, or injury to, the child.
                   Behavioral or discipline problems. 
                   Closure of the facility. 
                   A disaster or extreme weather condition, including,  
                but not limited to, fire, earthquake, or flood. 

           1) Aligns Kin Care law with the provisions in the new Paid Sick  
             Days law that authorizes the use of sick leave to attend to  
             any preventative care needs of the worker's child, parent,  
             spouse, or domestic partner. 
          
          Background

          According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR),  
          parents who used paid sick days were much less likely than other  
          workers to use it for their own health, with more than half  
          taking time to care for their children.  Mothers were  
          particularly likely to use paid sick days to care for their  
          children and particularly unlikely to use it for their own  
          health needs. Additionally, the study found that one  in 10  
          parents reported using paid sick days to care for both a child  
          and an older relative. (IWPR, "San Francisco's Paid Sick Leave  
          Ordinance: Outcomes for  Employers and Employees," February  
          2011) The IWPR concluded that these findings suggest that many  
          employees make trade-offs when using paid sick days and tend to  
          use this time to care for others, perhaps using less time for  
          their own health needs. 

          Existing law allows workers the ability to take time off to  
          participate in activities of the school or licensed child day  
          care facility of his/her child; however, this time must be  
          either unpaid or taken using a vacation, personal leave, or  
          compensatory time off.  Existing law allows workers to use,  







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          beginning in July of this year, paid sick days for the  
          diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition  
          of, or preventive care for, the employee or the employee's  
          family member (defined as a child, parent, spouse, registered  
          domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild and sibling).   
          However, the author and proponents of this bill believe that  
          more flexibility is needed in the use of both the time off to  
          attend to child care or school activities and the new paid sick  
          day's law.  
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified4/22/15)

          Child Care Law Center (co-source)
          Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (co-source)
          California Applicants' Attorneys Association
          California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union
          California Conference of Machinists
          California Employment Lawyers Association
          California Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
          California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          California School Employees Association
          California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
          California Women's Law Center
          Consumer Attorneys of California
          County of Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors
          Disability Rights Legal Center 
          Engineers & Scientists of California
          Glendale City Employees Association
          International Longshore & Warehouse Union
          National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
          National Council of Jewish Women California 
          Organization of SMUD Employees
          Professional & Technical Engineers
          Roots of Change
          San Bernardino Public Employees Association
          San Diego County Court Employees Association
          San Francisco Breastfeeding Promotion Coalition
          San Luis Obispo County Employees Association







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          UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO
          Utility Workers Union of America


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified4/22/15)

          California Association for Health Services at Home
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California League of Food Processors
          California Manufacturers and Technology Association
          California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors
          California Restaurant Association
          California State Association of Counties
          National Federation of Independent Business
          Western Growers Association

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     According to the author, most children  
          live in households where all parents work, and one-third of  
          families with children are headed by single parents. Yet, many  
          parents risk losing their jobs when they face a child care  
          emergency; or, cannot have time off to engage in child care or  
          school selection. The author argues that current law does not  
          provide sufficient protections leading to parents being forced  
          to choose between their job and whether to enroll/provide for  
          the welfare and education of their child.  SB 579 allows parents  
          to use their paid sick days to care for a child during a child  
          care or school emergency, and to take job-protected time off  
          from work to find (and enroll) child care or school for their  
          children. This bill also amends the Kin Care law to more closely  
          align with the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act by  
          allowing parents to use their sick days to take their family  
          members to a preventative health appointment. The author argues  
          that this bill does not increase the amount of time off parents  
          are entitled to under these laws, but rather expands the  
          permitted use of those laws to cover child care emergencies and  
          enrollment.

          Proponents argue that parents need assurance they will not lose  
          their job when they must leave work to attend to the well-being  
          of their child. They believe that by allowing working parents to  
          take time-off for these important reasons, the Legislature will  
          strengthen its support for working mothers and fathers by  
          helping them keep their jobs while fulfilling their parental  
          obligations. Proponents argue that this bill also benefits  







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          employers by strengthening employee morale and job retention for  
          working parents.  


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:     According to opponents, this bill  
          expands the paid sick leave law, which has yet to go into  
          effect, to also cover events that have no relation to an  
          employee's illness, or preventative care, or the illness or  
          preventative care of a family member. Specifically, this bill  
          expands the conditions under which an employee can utilize paid  
          sick leave to include "child care or school emergency," defined  
          as discipline or behavioral problems, closure of the facility, a  
          disaster, or extreme weather conditions. Opponents argue that  
          these listed events are completely unrelated to medical care or  
          an illness of an employee or their family member, and is  
          inconsistent with the intent of the paid sick leave law, which  
          was to provide employees with an opportunity to attend to their  
          health needs and the health needs of their family. 

          Furthermore, opponents argue that utilizing paid sick leave for  
          conditions and events that are completely unrelated to illness  
          or medical care, begins to change the nature of the leave to  
          resemble paid time off or vacation leave, which is a significant  
          concern to the business community. Unused accrued paid time off  
          and vacation as opposed to unused, accrued paid sick leave are  
          considered wages that are due at the time of separation, given  
          the ability for an employee to utilize that leave for events  
          other than limited purposes. Moreover, they argue, California  
          already provides employees with 40 hours of protected school  
          activities leave, for a parent, guardian, or grandparent of a  
          child, to participate in "school activities." This includes  
          children at licensed child day care facilities, and would likely  
          include several of the events this bill seeks to include under  
          the paid sick leave law.  


          Prepared by:  Alma Perez / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
          5/6/15 16:16:28


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