BILL ANALYSIS �
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CONSENT
Bill No: AJR 38
Author: Salas (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Hueso, Knight, Correa, Lieu, Nielsen, Roth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/8/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Fair employment and housing: veterans
SOURCE : AMVETS
DIGEST : This resolution requests Congress to pass and the
President to sign into law, Senate Bill 1281 and House
Resolution 2654, and encourages the members of the California
Congressional Delegation to join as co-authors on those
measures.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1.Fewer than 7% of Americans have ever served in the United
States Armed Forces and less than 1% wear the uniform today.
Taken as a group, military members and veterans are in the
minority.
2.Frequently those who have served and sacrificed are at a
CONTINUED
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disadvantage in comparison to their peers and employment is
often the first obstacle that veterans must overcome during
their transition from the military to civilian life.
3.It is not unusual for veterans transitioning from military to
civilian employment to enter the workforce years behind their
high school or college classmates, and while their
contemporaries have completed college, held internships,
entered the workforce, established expertise in their fields,
and built a professional network of contacts, those who have
served, regardless of experience or rank, are often forced to
begin their civilian careers at or near the bottom of the
employment ladder.
4.The Legislature deems it important to the state to protect and
safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek,
obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or
abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color,
national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital
status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age,
sexual orientation, or military and veteran status.
5.The State of California urges the government of the United
States to enact similar protections at the federal level in
acknowledgment of the tremendous sacrifices our veterans have
made for this nation and to ensure that veterans enjoy the
same legally mandated, nondiscriminatory access to housing,
employment, and training opportunities as are afforded to
other deserving individuals.
6.Senate Bill 1281 by Senator Richard Blumenthal and House
Resolution 2654 by Representative Derek Kilmer seek to
accomplish these aims at the federal level.
This resolution requests Congress to pass and the President to
sign into law, Senate Bill 1281 and House Resolution 2654, and
encourages the members of the California Congressional
Delegation to join as co-authors on those measures.
Background
Federal law prohibiting job discrimination . The following
federal laws are enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment
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Opportunity Commission (EEOC):
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits
employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin;
Equal Pay Act of 1963, which protects men and women who
perform substantially equal work in the same establishment
from sex-based wage discrimination;
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects
individuals who are 40 years of age or older;
Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990, as amended, which prohibit employment discrimination
against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private
sector, and in state and local governments;
Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which
prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with
disabilities who work in the federal government;
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of
2008, which prohibits employment discrimination based on
genetic information about an applicant, employee, or former
employee; and
Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides
monetary damages in cases of intentional employment
discrimination.
Other federal laws not enforced by EEOC also prohibit
discrimination and reprisal against federal employees and
applicants. For example, the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
(CSRA) contains a number of prohibitions, known as "prohibited
personnel practices," which are designed to promote overall
fairness in federal personnel actions (5 U.S.C. 2302). The CSRA
prohibits any employee who has authority to take certain
personnel actions from discriminating for or against employees
or applicants for employment on the bases of race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, age or disability.
State law prohibiting job discrimination . The California
Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) enforces laws
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that protect employees from illegal discrimination and
harassment in employment based on actual or perceived:
Ancestry
Age (40 and above)
Color
Disability (physical and mental, including HIV and AIDS)
Genetic information
Gender, gender identity, and gender expression
Marital status
Medical condition (genetic characteristics, cancer or a
history of cancer)
Military or veteran status
National origin (includes language use restrictions)
Race
Religion (includes religious dress and grooming practices)
Sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or
related medical conditions)
Sexual orientation
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act and its
implementing regulations:
Prohibit harassment of employees, applicants, and independent
contractors by any persons and require employers to take all
reasonable steps to prevent harassment. This includes a
prohibition against sexual harassment, gender harassment,
harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding
and/or related medical conditions, as well as harassment based
on all other characteristics listed.
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Prohibit employers from limiting or prohibiting the use of any
language in any workplace unless justified by business
necessity. The employer must notify employees of the language
restriction and consequences for violation.
Require that all employers provide information to each of
their employees on the nature, illegality, and legal remedies
that apply to sexual harassment. Employers may either develop
their own publications, which must meet standards set forth in
California Government Code Section 12950, or use a brochure
from the DFEH.
Require employers with 50 or more employees and all public
entities to provide sexual harassment prevention training for
all supervisors.
Require employers to reasonably accommodate an employee or job
applicant's religious beliefs and practices, including the
wearing or carrying of religious clothing, jewelry or
artifacts, and hair styles, facial hair, or body hair, which
are part of an individual's observance of his/her religious
beliefs.
Require employers to reasonably accommodate employees or job
applicants with a disability to enable them to perform the
essential functions of a job.
Veterans unemployment challenges . According to the California
Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), California is home to
more than 1.8 million veterans - representing roughly 9% of the
veteran population nationwide. Further, CalVet estimates that
35,000 to 40,000 veterans will return to California each year
for the next few years. These veterans generally will be in the
younger age groups, which have recently experienced the highest
levels of unemployment. Moreover, according to the federal
EEOC, 25% of recent veterans have service-connected
disabilities, compared to about 13% of all veterans, which could
pose additional challenges for them in finding work.
Veterans fare slightly better with regard to unemployment than
nonveterans, with some exceptions. An analysis of American
Community Survey data showed that the unemployment rate among
veterans during 2011 was 11.3%, compared to 11.9% for the
nonveteran population. However, the unemployment rate among
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veterans age 25 to 34 was 17.1%, compared to 11.7% among
nonveterans in the same age group. Further, the unemployment
rate for both veterans and nonveterans age 18 to 24 was 22% or
more.
It is not unusual for veterans transitioning from military to
civilian employment to enter the workforce years behind high
school classmates, who did not opt for military service. These
non-veteran contemporaries often have completed college, held
internships, entered the workforce, established expertise in
their fields, and built a professional network of contacts. On
the other hand, the veterans, despite the wealth of valuable
experiences they could bring to the workforce, often discover
that their military service may not be understood or appreciated
by civilian employers and they often are forced to begin their
civilian careers at or near the bottom of the employment ladder.
Misperceptions about veterans greatly contribute to high levels
of veteran unemployment and underemployment.
Related Legislation
AB 556 (Salas, Chapter 691, Statutes of 2013) prohibits
employment discrimination against all active duty military and
veterans of the Armed Services.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/25/14)
American Legion, Department of California
AMVETS, Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officer
California State Commanders Veterans Council
Military Officers Association of America, California Council of
Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
AJR 38
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Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Gorell, Mansoor, V. Manuel P�rez,
Ridley-Thomas, Vacancy
AL:e 6/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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