“Captive Audience” Meetings Banned: “Captive audience” meetings are employer-sponsored mandatory meetings that discuss religious or political matters, including union-representation discussions. Senate Bill 399, referred to as the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act,” will subject most employers to a civil penalty or civil action starting the first of the year, if they require employee attendance at such meetings under threat of discharge, discipline, or some other adverse employment action. 

Driver’s License Requirements in Job Postings Restricted: Senate Bill 1100 makes it an unlawful employment practice to include statements that an applicant must have a driver’s license in job advertisements, postings, applications, and similar employment material unless the following conditions are satisfied:

• The employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the job functions of the position.
• The employer reasonably believes that using an alternative form of transportation would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer.
  

Managing Employee Leave under Paid Family Leave: Assembly Bill 2123 eliminates an employer’s ability to require employees to use accrued vacation leave before accessing California’s Paid Family Leave Program (PFL). Previously, employers could require employees to take up to 2 weeks of accrued vacation before employees could access PFL benefits.

Protection for Combinations of Protected Characteristics: Senate Bill 1137 clarifies that the California Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis not just of individual protected traits, but also on the basis of the intersectionality (e.g., combination) of two or more protected traits.

The California Legislature described the concept of intersectionality as follows:

• Intersectionality is an analytical framework that sets forth that different forms of inequality operate together, exacerbate each other, and can result in amplified forms of prejudice and harm. The framework and term “intersectionality,” coined and popularized by legal scholar Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, captures the unique, interlocking forms of discrimination and harassment experienced by individuals in the workplace and throughout society . . .

Through Senate Bill 1137, California’s Legislature affirms the decision of Lam v. University of Hawai’i (9th Cir. 1994) 40 F.3d 1551, where the Ninth Circuit found that when an individual claims multiple bases for discrimination or harassment, it may be necessary to establish whether the discrimination or harassment occurred on the basis of a combination of these factors, not just one protected characteristic alone.