BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 5XX
          Author:   Cogdill (R)
          Amended:  2/14/09
          Vote:     21

           
          WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE 


           SUBJECT  :    Employment:  alternative workweek schedules

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :     Senate Floor Amendments  of 2/14/09 delete the  
          prior version of the bill expressing the intent of the  
          Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the  
          Budget Act of 2008.

          This bill now provides flexibility for employers and  
          employees on work schedule requirements.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law allows, with the proposal of an  
          employer, employees of a work unit to adopt a regularly  
          scheduled alternative workweek of a two-thirds of the  
          employees vote to approve the alternative workweek schedule  
          in a secret ballot election.  The alternative workweek  
          schedule cannot authorize employees to work longer than 10  
          hours per day in a 40-hour workweek without overtime pay.

          With the exception of Industrial Welfare commission's (IWC)  
          Wage Order 14 (agricultural occupations) and IWC Wage Order  
          15 (household occupations), the IWC's Wage Orders contain  
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          very similar or nearly identical language that defines an  
          applicable work unit for alternative workweek elections.

          With the exception of IWC's Wage Order 14 and IWC Wage  
          Order 15, the IWC's Wage Orders also contain very similar  
          or nearly identical language for an employee, with the  
          approval of the employer, to move from one alternative  
          workweek menu scheduling option to another, but does not  
          specify how frequently this can be done by the employee.

          This bill specifies that the menu of alternative workweek  
          schedule options may include a regular schedule for 8-hour  
          days, and that the employee can move from one alternative  
          workweek schedule to another on a weekly basis.

          Specifically, this bill:

          1.Codifies the language in certain existing IWC Wage Orders  
            that allow an employer to offer employees a menu of work  
            schedule options when proposing an alternative workweek  
            election.

          2.Specifies that the proposed alternative workweek menu of  
            work schedule options may include a regular schedule of  
            8-hour days, and that the employees who adopt a menu of  
            alternative workweek schedules may, with employer  
            consent, move from one schedule option to another on a  
            weekly basis.

          3.Codifies the definition in certain existing IWC Wage  
            Orders of a readily identifiable "work unit" t include,  
            for the purposes of an alternative workweek election, a  
            division, department, job classification, shift, separate  
            physical location, a recognized subdivision, or an  
            individual, if the individual meets the criteria for an  
            identifiable work unit.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          DLW:cm  2/14/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED








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