BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 579
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
579 (Jackson)
As Amended July 16, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-1
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Labor |6-1 |Roger Hernández, Chu, |Harper |
| | |Low, McCarty, | |
| | |Patterson, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
SB 579
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| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Expands the authorized reasons for which an employee
can take job-protected time off from work under the Family
School Partnership Act and specified "kin care" sick leave
provisions of existing law. Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands the currently authorized reasons for which an employee
may take job-protected time off work without the fear of
discrimination or discharge under the Family School
Partnership Act to allow workers to take time off to a) find,
enroll, or reenroll his or her child in a school of with a
licensed child care provider, and b) to address a child care
provider or school emergency, as defined.
2)Defines "child care provider or school emergency" to mean that
an employee's child cannot remain in school or with a child
care provider due to one of the following:
a) The school or child care provider has requested that the
child be picked up, or has an attendance policy, excluding
planned holidays, that prohibits the child from attending
or requires the child to be picked up from the school or
child care provider.
b) Behavioral or discipline problems.
c) Closure of unexpected unavailability of the school or
child care provider, excluding planned holidays.
d) A natural disaster, including, but not limited to, fire,
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earthquake or flood.
3)Revises provisions of existing "kin care" law to be consistent
with the provisions under recent paid sick days legislation to
clarify that "family member" includes the individuals already
covered in existing law and that the worker can take sick
leave for the reasons currently specified in law.
4)Prohibits an employer from denying sick leave or
discriminating against an employee for attending to an illness
or the preventive care of a family member.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, the Department of Industrial Relations indicates
minor/absorbable costs related to implementation and enforcement
of this bill.
COMMENTS: 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,
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.
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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 existing 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. This bill allows parents to use leave 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.
Supporters 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. Supporters argue that this bill also benefits
employers by strengthening employee morale and job retention for
working parents.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN:
0001368
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