Follow us on LinkedIn to see future News.
October 28, 2024
Update: Our article below addressed the expansion of California’s 2014 Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act to include additional protections for crime victims. On July 7, 2025, the California Civil Rights Department issued guidance and a model notice for employees about the expanded statute. The guidance offers answers to frequently asked questions and addresses how much time employees can take off from work, who is covered, and the process for employees to request changes in their workplace if they were victims of an act of violence. The notice addresses employees’ rights, including their right to confidentiality and wage replacement protections.
New California Law Restricts the Use of Driver’s License Requirements in Job Postings
In California, driver’s licenses have increasingly (and often unnecessarily) become a condition of employment. The California Assembly took up a bill designed to eliminate barriers to employment by restricting the use of driver’s license requirements in job postings.
In September 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1100 into law, amending California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and making it an unlawful employment practice for employers to include statements in job advertisements, postings, applications, and related employment materials about the need for a driver’s license unless two conditions are met.
The first condition is that the employer reasonably expects driving to be a bona fide job function for the particular position.
The second condition is that the employer must reasonably believe that the employee would be unable to satisfy the job functions using alternative forms of transportation. The law defines “alternative forms of transportation” to include ride sharing services, using a taxi, carpooling, bicycling, or walking.
Employers in California would be wise to revise job applications, advertising materials for employment, and any other hiring policies now to ensure compliance with this new law, which is effective January 1, 2025.
California Clears the Way for Employees to Keep Accrued Vacation Time Before Using California Paid Family Leave Benefits
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed California State Assembly Bill 2123 in September 2024. The Bill, effective January 1, 2025, eliminates the ability of an employer in California to require an employee to use accrued vacation leave before accessing the California Paid Family Leave (PFL) program.
PFL is a state-run program providing benefits to individuals who need time off from work to care for an ill child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner, or in cases where the employee seeks to bond with a new minor child, or has additional family responsibilities because a family member is in the military under active duty.
Prior to this change in the law, employees had to use up to two weeks of accrued, unused vacation time as an elimination period prior to being eligible for PFL.
Now, for any employee seeking PFL on or after January 1, 2025, the two-week elimination period is no longer required.
Employers in California should revise employment policies and handbooks that require the use of unused but accrued vacation time prior to using PFL, so as to be compliant with this new law.
California Will Provide Additional Protection to Workers Who Are Crime Victims
Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2499 to provide additional protection for workers taking time off as a result of being the victim of a crime personally, or because a family member was victimized.
Historically, California has provided protections to employees from discrimination or from retaliation if they take time off for court appearances, jury duty, or because the employee was the victim of crime.
The new law, which will become part of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and will include the historic protections, broadens the definition of victims to include a victim of an “act of violence,” which means any of the following, regardless of whether anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted of committing any crime of:
The law also extends the time-off protections to employees caring for a family member who is the victim of one of these crimes. “Family member” includes an employee’s “child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner … or designated person.”
In addition to prohibiting discrimination and retaliation against employees who take time off for the above reasons, the law will require that employers reasonably accommodate (unless an undue hardship exists) these employees to ensure their safety at work.
Effective January 1, 2025, employers in California will be required to provide annual written notice of these rights to all employees, and to provide the information upon request, or at any time the employer becomes aware that an employee, or an employee’s family member, is a victim of a crime.
California employers would be wise to update policies, procedures, and handbooks to provide appropriate notice under the new law.
Stay tuned for another post covering more California highlights for 2025.
The author of this article, Mark P. Harbison is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Pennsylvania, California, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
