BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 676| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 676 Author: Calderon (D) Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 6/24/15 AYES: Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell NOES: Stone SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 6/30/15 AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski NOES: Moorlach, Anderson SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza NOES: Bates, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-27, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Employment: discrimination: status as unemployed SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill prohibits an employer from 1) publishing an advertisement or announcement for a job that includes a provision stating or indicating that an unemployed person is not eligible; and 2) asking an applicant to disclose the applicant's employment status until the employer has determined that he/she meets the minimum employment qualifications for the position. AB 676 Page 2 ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Authorizes employers to conduct an investigation, such as a background check, into a person's character for employment purposes. 2)Defines unlawful discrimination and lawful employment practices by employers and employment agencies to protect both prospective and current employees against employment discrimination. 3)Prohibits, under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, harassment and discrimination in employment because of, among other things, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, mental and physical disability, age and/or retaliation for protesting illegal discrimination related to one of these categories or for reporting patient abuse in tax supported institutions. 4)Prohibits employers from discriminating, discharging or refusing to hire an employee based on an employee's lawful conduct during nonworking hours away from the employer's premises. This bill: 1)Prohibits an employer, on and after July 1, 2016, from doing the following: a) Publishing in print, on the Internet, or in any other medium, an advertisement or announcement for a job that includes a provision stating or indicating that an unemployed person is not eligible. b) Asking an applicant to disclose, orally or in writing, the applicant's employment status until the employer has AB 676 Page 3 determined that the applicant meets the minimum employment qualifications for the position, as stated in the published notice for the job. 2)Defines "employer" as the state or any political or civil subdivision of the state or any person, as defined, who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any person. 3)Defines "employment status" as an individual's present unemployment, regardless of the length of time that he/she has been unemployed. 4)Specifies that these provisions shall not be construed to prohibit an employer from: a) Publishing, as specified, an advertisement or announcement for any job that contains provisions setting forth job qualifications, including: i) Holding a current and valid professional or occupational license, certificate, registration, permit, or other credential. ii)Requiring a minimum level of education or training, or professional, occupational, or field experience. iii)Stating that only individuals who are current employees of the employer will be considered for that job. b) Obtaining information regarding an individual's employment, including recent relevant experience. c) Having knowledge of a person's employment status. AB 676 Page 4 d) Inquiring as to the reasons for an individual's employment status. e) Refusing to offer employment to a person because of the reasons underlying an individual's employment status. f) Otherwise making employment decisions pertaining to that individual. 5)Specifies that a violation of these provisions does not result in a person being guilty of a misdemeanor. Background "Unemployed Need Not Apply" The nation has suffered from a severe unemployment crisis that has affected nearly all sectors of the economy. According to the National Employment Law Project, around 9.8 million workers were unemployed in May 2014, and 3.4 million, or 34.6 percent, of those workers were searching for work for six months or more. In the summer of 2010, news accounts began to emerge throughout the country suggesting that some employers were establishing blanket exclusions of unemployed workers from job consideration using terms like "must be currently employed" or "require current (or very recent) tenure," as part of the qualifications for employment. One of the first stories reported, in May 2010, involved accounts by media in Atlanta reporting that Sony Ericsson's newly relocated headquarters had posted a job announcement for a marketing position that explicitly stated, "No Unemployed Candidates Considered At All." Subsequently, in early 2011, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) conducted a four-week review of the nation's most prominent online job listing websites. NELP's research of job postings identified more than 150 ads that included exclusions AB 676 Page 5 based on current employment status. (Briefing Paper: Hiring Discrimination against the Unemployed, National Employment Law Project, July 12, 2011) Most of the ads specifically stated that applicants "must be currently employed." Existing law also prohibits harassment and discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, sex and sexual orientation, among others. However, nothing specifically addresses the issue of discriminating against the unemployed. This bill attempts to ban such a practice under state law by prohibiting employers from discriminating against prospective job applicants on the basis of his/her employment status. White House: Addressing the Negative Cycle of Long-Term Unemployment In January 2014, the White House released a report, "Addressing the Negative Cycle of Long-Term Unemployment," which explored the challenge of long-term unemployment, something it called "the worst legacy of the Great Recession." Among other things, the report found that, although the long and short-term unemployed have similar credentials overall, research suggests that the long-term unemployed face significant disadvantages in the labor market simply by virtue of their status as being long-term unemployed. In response to these findings, the Obama Administration announced the following: 1)New Best Practices for Hiring and Recruiting Long-Term Unemployed: The Administration has engaged with America's leading businesses to develop best practices for hiring and recruiting the long-term unemployed and ensure they receive a fair shot during hiring. Over 80 of the nation's largest businesses have signed on as well as many small- and medium-sized businesses. 2)Presidential Memorandum to Make Sure the Federal Government Does the Same: The President will also lead by example to make sure that individuals who are unemployed or have faced financial difficulties through no fault of their own receive fair treatment and consideration for employment by federal agencies. 3)Fund programs that help find employment: The Department of Labor is seeking to fund new programs that build on models AB 676 Page 6 that have shown success in helping the long-term unemployed find employment through innovative partnerships and proven strategies, including job-training, subsidized employment, and sector-based strategies. Prior Legislation AB 2271 (Calderon, 2014) was nearly identical to the previous version of this bill and was vetoed by the Governor. Amendments to AB 676 taken out of Senate Appropriations Committee have revised and recast the provisions to achieve the author's goal, however, AB 2271 included civil penalties for violations of these provisions and the current version of this bill does not. AB 1450 (Allen, 2012) was similar, but not identical, to this bill and was also vetoed by the Governor. AB 1450 also included state contracts and would have specified that failure to comply would be grounds for cancelling, terminating, or suspending the contract and debarring the contractor (for up to three years) from eligibility for future state contracts. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Department of Industrial Relations would potentially incur increased administrative costs in the range of $1 million annually (special funds) to process, review, and investigate complaints. SUPPORT: (Verified8/27/15) California Conference Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union California Conference of Machinists California Employment Lawyers Association California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO California Nurses Association California State Firefighters' Association California Teamsters Public Affairs Council AB 676 Page 7 Engineers & Scientists of California Glendale City Employees Association International Longshore & Warehouse Union National Association of Social Workers, CA Chapter Organization of SMUD Employees Professional & Technical Engineers San Bernardino Public Employees Association San Diego County Court Employees Association Service Employees International Union San Luis Obispo County Employees Association UNITE-HERE, AFL-CIO Utility Workers Union of America OPPOSITION: (Verified8/27/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, research shows that the long-term unemployed are frequently overlooked and sometimes excluded from job opportunities. Employers and employment agencies have posted job vacancy notifications with language such as "No unemployed candidates considered at all" or "Only currently employed candidates will be considered." Proponents argue that the long-term unemployed are some of California's most in-need individuals whose harm is compounded when their attempts to re-enter the work force are thwarted by this type of discrimination. They cite a study which found that long-term unemployed workers with otherwise identical resumes were called back for interviews at rates 45% lower than the short-term unemployed. Proponents believe this bill will level the playing field for the long-term unemployed and allow a person's credentials and qualifications to speak first, rather than their status as an unemployed individual. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-27, 6/2/15 AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, AB 676 Page 8 Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Nazarian Prepared by:Alma Perez / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556 8/31/15 8:54:38 **** END ****