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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