BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2340 (Monning)
Hearing Date: 8/2/2010 Amended: 7/15/2010
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: L&IR 4-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2340 would add to employee rights, the right to
inquire about, request, and take up to three days off for
bereavement leave. The provisions of the bill would not apply
to an employee who is covered by a valid collective bargaining
agreement that provides for bereavement leave and other
specified working conditions.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Bereavement leave Minor, if any, compensation costs for
General/
public employees Special
Enforcement $25 $50 $50
Special*
Costs to the Division of Labor
Standards
Enforcement (DLSE) within the
Department
of Industrial Relations to
respond to private
employee complaints
* Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: Currently, state collective bargaining contracts
provide up to three (8 hour) days of bereavement leave.
(Bargaining Unit 8 (firefighters) provides one duty shift for
bereavement leave. Firefighters' duty shifts last 72 hours or 3
days. Thus, BU 8's procedure is no different than the other
bargaining units.) Supervisors and exempt positions are not
covered by collective bargaining agreements. Under Government
Code 19859.3 (b) these employees receive up to 3 days of
bereavement leave. Supervisors may bring bereavement leave
issues under the excluded employees grievance procedure per
California Code of Regulations 599.859. Ultimately, the
Department of Personnel Administration decides the merit of
supervisors' grievances.
Since bereavement leave is covered under a collective bargaining
agreement for rank and file employees, those employees would use
their bargaining agreement grievance process to complain about
bereavement leave issues. That is, generally they would discuss
the issue with their supervisor. If the issue didn't settle,
they would file a formal grievance with their department's labor
relations department. If the matter still didn't settle, then
the issue would be decided at an arbitration hearing.
Typically, the Department of Personnel Administration is
involved at this elevated stage of the process.
Since there is no statutory right to bereavement leave for
private sector employees, if
these employees have a bereavement leave complaint, they would
most likely have to identify a company policy or collective
bargaining agreement and claim that the policy or
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AB 2340 (Monning)
bargaining agreement is not being applied equitably. Under a
theory of discrimination or retaliation, these employees could
seek redress with DLSE.
Information to estimate potential complaints and enforcement
costs is scare. Between 2004-05 and 2008-09, the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing (DEFH) has responded to an average
of 830 complaints for denial of family care leave under to the
California Family Rights Act (CFRA). However, because CFRA
provisions are more restrictive regarding when employers are
obligated to provide family leave and apply only to employers
with at least 50 employees, DFEH enforcement costs may not
provide a valid reference point.
Another way to estimate potential enforcement costs would be to
consider bereavement leave in terms of sick leave usage. In
2009, 27 cases were filed with the DSLE under Labor Code 233 for
failure to be able to use sick leave.
SB 549 (Corbett) 2007, which proposed providing up to four days
off for bereavement leave, was vetoed with the following
message:
This bill, along with two others I am returning without my
signature, would significantly expand California's workplace
leave laws. While some expansion of existing law may have some
merit, these laws in combination are too expensive and also fail
to recognize the need for reforms to current law.
California has the strongest employment leave and workplace
protection laws in the country. While these laws have been
enacted with the best of intentions, they have also caused much
confusion for employers and employees. Unfortunately, many
California-only standards in areas such as family leave,
overtime, and meal and rest periods have been developed
haphazardly and have resulted in needless litigation that has
created a perception that California is not friendly to
business.
Instead of expanding the confusing network of laws that
presently exist, employers and employees should be working
together to eliminate confusion and create a system of workplace
laws that protects workers, provides reasonable leave
requirements, and offers both employers and employees
flexibility to meet their respective needs.