This is the final update of the employer-related bills for California’s 2006 Legislative Session. The Governor had until Sept. 30 to sign or veto bills.
For more detailed information about these 2006 California employer-related bills, go to the official California Legislative Information site. Key in the Assembly or Senate bill number you are researching to find the history and status.
| √ |
AB 1368 |
Karnette |
Workers' compensation: apportionment: presumptions.
09/30/2006-Chapter by the Secretary of State, Chapter 836 |
| Workers' compensation: apportionment: presumptions. This bill would exempt the above medical conditions for certain public safety members and employees from the application of this requirement. This bill contains other existing laws. |
| √ |
AB 1553 |
Evans |
Arbitration.
09/14/2006-Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter Number 266, Statutes of 2006 |
| Existing law provides that written agreements to submit controversies to arbitration are valid and enforceable. This bill would provide, if an arbitration agreement requires that arbitration of a controversy be demanded or initiated within a period of time, the commencement of a civil action within that period of time shall toll the applicable time limitations contained in the arbitration agreement with respect to that controversy from the date the civil action is commenced until 30 days after a final determination by the court that the controversy must be arbitrated, or 30 days after the final termination of the civil action, whichever date occurs first. |
| √ |
AB 1835 |
Lieber |
Minimum wage.
09/12/2006-Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter Number 230, Statutes of 2006 |
Existing law requires establishment of a minimum wage for all industries of not less than $5.75 per hour on and after March 1, 1998. Under existing law, the Industrial Welfare Commission is authorized to determine minimum wages in accordance with a prescribed procedure that includes the selection of wage boards to consider and make recommendations regarding wage issues. The current minimum wage for all industries is $6.75 per hour. This bill would increase the minimum wage to $7.50 per hour, effective on and after January 1, 2007, and to $8.00 per hour, effective on and after January 1, 2008. This bill contains other related provisions.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| X |
AB 1840 |
Horton, Jerome |
Health care: employer coverage: disclosure.
09/30/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing law provides for various health programs under which qualified low-income persons are provided health care services. These programs include the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Services, and the Healthy Families Program and the Access for Infants and Mothers Program, which are administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board. This bill would require the department and the board to collaborate to, on or before March 15, 2007, transmit to the Legislature a report identifying all employers who employ 25 or more persons who are beneficiaries or who support beneficiaries of these programs. The bill would also require the department and the board to make the report available to the public as provided in the bill.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| X |
AB 1862 |
Vargas |
Workers' Compensation: first aid.
09/29/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
| Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. This bill would provide that first aid means any one time treatment, and any followup visits, for the purpose of observation of minor industrial injuries that do not ordinarily require medical care. This bill contains other existing laws. |
| X |
AB 1883 |
De La Torre |
Workers' compensation: proof of insurance coverage.
09/30/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing workers' compensation law requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law requires a rating organization, as defined, that rates insurance plans authorized to provide workers' compensation insurance and employers' liability insurance to provide satisfactory evidence to the Insurance Commissioner that it will take certain actions to regulate those plans , including, among other things, maintaining reasonable records of the experience of the plans' members and of the data, statistics, or information collected or used in connection with the pure premium rates, classifications, manual rules, and policy and endorsement forms used by its members so that these records will be available at all reasonable times to enable the commissioner to determine whether the rating organization and its members comply with specified laws regulating workers' compensation insurers. This bill would also require a rating organization to maintain reasonable records to identify the name and contact information of the insurer of each insured employer for specified purposes relating to compliance with workers' compensation laws in accordance with regulations adopted by the commissioner after notice and hearing. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| X |
AB 1884 |
Chu |
Unemployment compensation benefits: locked-out
workers.
09/07/2006-Vetoed by the Governor. |
| Existing law denies unemployment compensation benefits to an individual who is unemployed because of a trade dispute with the individual's employer, and provides that the unemployed individual is not eligible to receive those benefits for the period during which the trade dispute is still in active progress, if the individual's unemployment is due to that dispute. This bill would allow an otherwise eligible locked-out worker, as defined, to receive unemployment compensation benefits, even if the worker is locked out as a result of a trade dispute with the worker's employer. By requiring additional payments from the Unemployment Fund, a continuously appropriated special fund, this bill would make an appropriation. |
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AB 2068 |
Nava |
Workers' compensation: designation of physician.
9/30/2006 – Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter 819. |
| Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. This bill would provide that a personal physician includes a corporation, partnership, or association of licensed doctors of medicine or osteopathy, and would require the physician to agree to be the primary treating physician. This bill would also delete the April 30, 2007, repeal date and the limit on the maximum percentage of employees that may be predesignated. This bill contains other existing laws. |
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AB 2087 |
Benoit |
Workers' compensation: claimant information.
07/24/2006-Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter Number 115, Statutes of 2006 |
| Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires that all employers secure incurred liabilities by making a deposit based upon estimated future liability for compensation, and provides that, in determining the amount of the deposit, the administrative director shall offset estimated future liabilities for the same claims covered by a self-insured plan under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, as specified. Existing law requires that all self-insured employers file a self-insurer's annual report in a form prescribed by the administrative director. This bill would require the administrative director to additionally prepare an aggregated summary of all self-insured employers' liability to pay compensation reported on those self-insured employers' annual reports, including a separate summary for public and private employer self-insurers. The bill would require that the summaries be made available to the public on the self-insurance section of the Department of Industrial Relation's Internet Web site. The bill would also authorize the administrative director to release a copy, or make available an electronic version, of specified data, excluding certain individually identifiable claimant information, contained in any public sector employer's self-insurer's annual reports received from an individual public entity self-insurer or from a joint powers authority employer and its membership. |
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AB 2095 |
Niello |
Employment practices.
09/29/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 737 |
| Existing law makes certain specified employment practices unlawful, including the harassment of an employee directly by the employer or indirectly by agents of the employer with the employer's knowledge. Existing law additionally requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide, by January 1, 2006, at least 2 hours of training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees, as specified, who have been employed as of January 1, 2005, unless the employer has provided that training and education to these employees after January 1, 2003. This training must be provided to all new supervisory employees within 6 months of their assumption of supervisory duties. This bill would limit these provisions to employers having 50 or more employees in California and would limit the training requirement to supervisory employees within California. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. |
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AB 2125 |
Vargas |
Insurance.
09/29/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 740 |
Existing law regulates the business of insurance, including worker' s compensation insurance. This bill would make numerous changes in the law regulating insurance including workers' compensation insurance. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. Below is a summary of what it includes:
- Prohibits the Insurance Commissioner from revoking or suspending the State Compensation Fund's authority to transact workers comp insurance;
- Prohibits the Insurance Commissioner from removing or replacing either the Board of Directors or the President of the State Compensation Fund;
- Gives the Insurance Commissioner the same power and authority to examine the State Compensation Fund as he/she does with other insurers;
- Sets up a regulatory procedure for the Fund whereby it would not be taken over by the Insurance Commissioner when an "authorized control level event" (having to do with required minimum reserves and falling below them) occurs, but would require the Commissioner to notify the Legislature;
- Authorizes the Governor to replace the Fund President when a determination has been made that an "authorized control level event" has occurred;
- Requires a finding of insolvency to be made by the Legislature before the Fund could be deemed insolvent.
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| X |
AB 2209 |
Pavley |
Unemployment compensation benefits: trade disputes:
fraud or misconduct.
09/07/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing law provides for the payment of unemployment compensation to unemployed individuals who meet certain eligibility requirements. This bill would provide that any agreement between an employer and an employee, or his or her representative, prohibiting the employee from either filing a claim for, or appealing a decision of denial or reduction in, unemployment compensation benefits is against public policy and is void. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| X |
AB 2287 |
Chu |
Workers' compensation: acupuncture.
09/30/2006-Vetoed by the Governor
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Existing workers' compensation law generally requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including acupuncture treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. This bill would define acupuncture treatment to mean treatment based upon these guidelines or, prior to the adoption of these guidelines, the specified guidelines published by the Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association and the Foundation for Acupuncture Research . This bill contains other existing laws.
EG Notes: EG as Intro; EG aa 4/6 |
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AB 2292 |
Montanez |
Workers' compensation: death benefits.
07/24/2006-Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter Number 119, Statutes of 2006 |
| Existing workers' compensation law requires employers to secure the payment of workers' compensation, including medical treatment, for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law prescribes statutory death benefits required to be paid to the dependents, or, if there are no dependents, to the personal representative of the deceased employee, heirs, or other persons entitled to a deceased employee's accrued and unpaid compensation under specified workers' compensation laws. This bill would specify that those death benefits shall be paid to a surviving dependent, personal representative, heir, or other person entitled to compensation under specified workers compensation laws, notwithstanding any amount of the deceased employee's accrued and unpaid compensation that is paid or owing to a surviving dependent, personal representative, heir, or other person entitled to a deceased employee's accrued and unpaid compensation. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws. |
| X |
AB 2555 |
Oropeza |
Wages: gender pay equity.
09/07/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing law generally prohibits an employer from paying an employee at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex in the same establishment. Existing law further imposes penalties on an employer who violate this provision, subjecting the employer to civil action and specifying liquidated damages that may be paid to an employee who is paid unfairly. This bill would increase the damages for which an employer may be liable to include a civil penalty of twice the balance of the wages due to the aggrieved employee, or 4 times the balance of the wages due if the employer's violation is willful , distributed to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for specified purposes . This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| X |
AB 2593 |
Keene |
Compensation: meal periods: transportation industry.
09/30/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
| Existing law prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to work during any meal or rest period mandated by an order of the Industrial Welfare Commission and establishes penalties for an employer's failure to provide a mandated meal or rest period. This bill would permit parties in the transportation industry to establish by a collective bargaining agreement an off-duty meal period and an on-duty meal period, where the agreement also provides for a premium rate for overtime hours and a specified regular hourly rate. |
| X |
AB 2942 |
Koretz |
Workers' compensation: inpatient burn diagnoses:
reimbursement.
09/19/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
| Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of workers' compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires that implantable medical devices, hardware, and instrumentation for specified Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs) be separately reimbursed in accordance with a prescribed formula. This bill would require that inpatient burn DRGs 504 to 511, inclusive, be separately reimbursed at a rate of 120% of estimated facility costs, as specified. These provisions would be operative only until the administrative director adopts an alternative reimbursement methodology for inpatient burn DRGs. The bill would authorize the administrative director, in consultation with the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation, to review the components of the reimbursement for those DRGs, as needed. |
| √ |
AB 3051 |
Committee on Labor and Employment |
Employment: wages of motion picture employees.
09/30/2006-Chaptered by the Secretary of State, Chapter 824 |
| Existing law provides generally that wages earned and unpaid at the time an employee is discharged or laid off are due and payable immediately. This bill would repeal and recast this provision. The bill would provide that an employee who is engaged in the production or broadcasting of motion pictures, as defined, whose employment terminates, whether by discharge, lay off, resignation, completion of employment, or otherwise, is entitled to receive payment of the wages earned and unpaid at the time of termination by the next regular payday. This bill contains other existing laws. |
| √ |
SB 293 |
Ducheny |
Workforce Training Act: education, training, and investment.
09/29/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 630 |
The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 provides for workforce investment activities, including activities in which states may participate. Existing law contains various programs for job training and employment investment, including work incentive programs, as specified. This bill would restructure and revise those provisions relating to the state administration of, and educational services under, the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 by a California Workforce Investment Board. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
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| X |
SB 815 |
Perata |
Workers' compensation: permanent disability: schedule.
09/20/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
| Existing law establishes a workers' compensation system, administered by the Administrative Director of the Division of Workers' Compensation, to compensate an employee for injuries sustained in the course of his or her employment. Existing law requires the payment of disability benefits to eligible individuals for injuries sustained in the course of employment that cause permanent disability, and specifies that the amount of those payments be computed in accordance with a prescribed formula. This bill would revise the formula for computing those payments for injuries causing permanent disability, which occur on or after January 1, 2007, as specified. |
| X |
SB 840 |
Kuehl |
Single-payer health care coverage.
09/22/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing law does not provide a system of universal health care coverage for California residents. Existing law provides for the creation of various programs to provide health care services to persons who have limited incomes and meet various eligibility requirements. These programs include the Healthy Families Program administered by the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, and the Medi-Cal program administered by the State Department of Health Services. Existing law provides for the regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. This bill would establish the California Health Insurance System to be administered by the newly created California Health Insurance Agency under the control of a Health Insurance Commissioner appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. The bill would make all California residents eligible for specified health care benefits under the California Health Insurance System, which would, on a single-payer basis, negotiate for or set fees for health care services provided through the system and pay claims for those services. The bill would require the commissioner to seek all necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, or legislation to allow various existing federal, state, and local health care payments to be paid to the California Health Insurance System, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose
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| X |
SB 1414 |
Migden |
California Fair Share Health Care Act.
09/13/2006-Vetoed by the Governor. |
Existing law generally regulates the conduct of employers and employees in the state and gives the Department of Industrial Relations various responsibilities in this regard, including levying and collecting assessments from employers to provide revenue to fund certain activities related to employment matters, such as workers' compensation and occupational safety. This bill, the California Fair Share Health Care Act, would require an employer with 10,000 or more employees in the state, who does not elect to contribute , in support of the Medi-Cal program, the difference between the amount the employer spent on health insurance costs and an amount equal to a specified percentage of the total wages paid to employees in the state in the immediately preceding calendar year , to spend an amount equal to that specified percentage on employee health insurance costs, as defined. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose
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| √ |
SB 1428 |
Scott |
Unemployment compensation: employer: motion picture
industry.
09/30/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 811 |
| Existing law requires that the determination of the employer-employee relationship be made pursuant to common-law principles, with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that when an individual or entity contracts to supply an employee to perform services for a customer or client, and is a leasing employer or a temporary services employer, as defined, the individual or entity is the employer of the employee who performs the services, provided that certain requirements are satisfied. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those provisions, any employing unit that has control of the payment of wages, as specified, to a worker performing services in the motion picture industry, as defined, shall be treated as an employer of that worker. |
| √ |
SB 1690 |
Romero |
Unemployment insurance: disability compensation and employment training contracts.
09/28/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 519 |
Existing unemployment compensation disability law provides a formula for determining benefits available to qualifying disabled individuals. For an individual who has quarterly base wages of greater than $1,749.20, the weekly benefit is calculated by multiplying base wages by 55% and dividing the result by 13. For a benefit that is not a multiple of $1, existing law provides that the benefit shall be computed to the next higher multiple of $1. However, existing law provides that this amount may not exceed the maximum workers' compensation temporary disability indemnity weekly benefit amount. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the limitation placed on the workers' compensation disability indemnity weekly benefit amount, any benefit that is not a multiple of $1 shall be computed to the next higher multiple of $1. Because this bill would increase the amount payable from the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a continuously appropriated special fund, this bill would make an appropriation. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
EG Notes: Oppose |
| √ |
SB 1719 |
Cedillo |
Payment of wages.
09/29/2006-Chaptered by Secretary of State, Chapter 685 |
| Existing law provides that generally if an employee is discharged or laid off, statutory time limits exist within which wages earned by the employee are due and payable. This bill would permit specified employees working in the entertainment industry and their employers to enter into a collective bargaining agreement to establish a time limit for payment of wages after an employee is discharged or laid off. |
| X |
SB 1745 |
Kuehl |
Employment discrimination: victims of violence.
09/30/2006-Vetoed by the Governor |
Existing law makes it a crime to engage in specified acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This bill would provide that it is against the public policy of the state for an employer of one or more employees to harass an individual, and for an employer of 5 or more employees to harass, refuse to hire or employ, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against a person , because he or she is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, as defined.
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