The expiration of the April 26^th deadline for bills to pass key committee votes has brought the 2019-2020 California Legislative Session into clearer focus.  A number of significant employment bills moved forward, including bills to:

• Prohibit mandatory pre-employment arbitration agreements for Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and/or Labor Code violations (AB 51);
• Delay the new harassment training deadlines for smaller employers and non-supervisory employees from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021 and clarify that employees who received sexual harassment training in 2018 need not be re-trained in 2019 (SB 778);
• Impose joint liability for harassment upon client employers and labor contractors (AB 170);
• Amend the Labor Code to preclude discrimination or retaliation against sexual harassment victims and their family members (AB 171 and AB 628);
• Extend the statute of limitations for FEHA claims from one to three years (AB 9) and for Labor Code claims from six months to three years (AB 403);
• Preclude discrimination based upon hair texture and hairstyles (SB 188);
• Expand CFRA leave to employers with five or more employees and only require 180 days service (rather than 1,250 hours and 12 months of service) (SB 135);
• Increase California’s annual paid sick leave requirements from three to five days (AB 555);
• Require employers to provide up to an additional thirty days of unpaid leave for organ donations (AB 1223);
• Further expand workplace lactation accommodation requirements (SB 142);
• Prohibit so-called “no rehire” provisions in employment-related settlement agreements (AB 749);
• Codify the California Supreme Court’s Dynamex ruling regarding independent contractors (AB 5);
• Encourage employers to assist employees with student loan repayment assistance (AB 152); and
• Require larger employers to submit annual “pay data reports” (SB 171).