AB406 - Employment: unlawful discrimination: victims of violence.

Assembly Bill No. 406 CHAPTER 148 An act to amend Section 12945.8 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 246.5 of, to amend and repeal Sections 230.2 and 230.5 of, and to add and repeal Sections 230 and 230.1 of, the Labor Code, relating to employment, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. [ Approved by Governor October 01, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 01, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 406, Schiavo. Employment: unlawful discrimination: victims of violence. Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, establishes the Civil Rights Department within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, under the direction of the Director of Civil Rights, to enforce civil rights laws with respect to housing and employment and to protect and safeguard the right of all persons to obtain and hold employment without discrimination based on specified characteristics or status. Existing law prescribes various functions, duties, and powers of the department, including, among others, to bring prescribed civil actions for violations of specified federal civil rights and antidiscrimination laws. Prior law, until January 1, 2025, authorized an employee who was discriminated or retaliated against for exercising certain rights to file a complaint with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in accordance with specified Labor Code provisions. These employee rights include, among other things, the right to take time off work to serve on a trial or to obtain specified crime-related relief. Existing law, as of January 1, 2025, transferred the authority to enforce these discrimination provisions from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to the Civil Rights Department. Existing law also repealed the above-described Labor Code provisions, and added new enforcement provisions to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act within the Government Code. Among other changes, these provisions refer to a “qualifying act of violence,” as defined, instead of crime, or crime or abuse, for purposes of obtaining relief. Existing law further prohibits an employer with 25 or more employees from discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim or who has a family member who is a victim for taking time off work for any of a number of additional prescribed purposes relating to a qualifying act of violence, as defined. Existing law requires an employee, as a condition of taking time off, to provide the employer with reasonable advance notice, unless not feasible, in accordance with certain procedural requirements. This bill would reinstate the above-described former Labor Code provisions, to apply only to alleged actions or inactions occurring on or before December 31, 2024. This bill would also transfer enforcement authority for two additional discrimination provisions relating to attending judicial proceedings from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to the Civil Rights Department. The bill would make other conforming changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 12945.8 of the Government Code is amended to read: 12945.8. (a) An employer shall not do any of the following: (1) Discharge or in any manner discriminate against an employee for taking time off to serve as required by law on an inquest jury or trial jury. (2) Discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee, including, but not limited to, an employee who is a victim, for taking time off to appear in court to comply with a subpoena or other court order as a witness in any judicial proceeding. (3) Discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim for taking time off from work to obtain or attempt to obtain any relief. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the victim or their child. (4) Commencing January 1, 2026, discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim or a family member of a victim for taking time off from work in order to attend judicial proceedings related to that crime, including, but not limited to, any delinquency proceeding, a postarrest release decision, plea, sentencing, postconviction release decision, or any proceeding where a right of that person is an issue. (b) An employer with 25 or more employees shall not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim or who has a family member who is a victim for taking time off from work for any of the following purposes: (1) To obtain or attempt to obtain any relief for the family member. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the family member of the victim. (2) To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain, medical attention for or to recover from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence. (3) To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, rape crisis center, or victim services organization or agency as a result of a qualifying act of violence. (4) To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain psychological counseling or mental health services related to an experience of a qualifying act of violence. (5) To participate in safety planning or take other actions to increase safety from future qualifying acts of violence. (6) To relocate or engage in the process of securing a new residence due to the qualifying act of violence, including, but not limited to, securing temporary or permanent housing or enrolling children in a new school or childcare. (7) To provide care to a family member who is recovering from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence. (8) To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain civil or criminal legal services in relation to the qualifying act of violence. (9) To prepare for, participate in, or attend any civil, administrative, or criminal legal proceeding related to the qualifying act of violence. (10) To seek, obtain, or provide childcare or care to a care-dependent adult if the childcare or care is necessary to ensure the safety of the child or dependent adult as a result of the qualifying act of violence. (c) (1) As a condition of taking time off for a purpose set forth in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) of subdivision (a), or subdivision (b), the employee shall give the employer reasonable advance notice of the employee’s intention to take time off, unless the advance notice is not feasible. (2) When an unscheduled absence occurs, the employer shall not take any action against the employee if the employee, within a reasonable time after the absence, provides a certification to the employer upon request by the employer. Certification shall be sufficient in the form of any of the following: (A) A police report indicating that the employee or a family member of the employee was a victim. (B) A court order protecting or separating the employee or a family member of the employee from the perpetrator of the qualifying act of violence, or other evidence from a court or prosecuting attorney that the employee or a family member of the employee has appeared in court. (C) Documentation from a licensed medical professional, domestic violence counselor, as defined in Section 1037.1 of the Evidence Code, a sexual assault counselor, as defined in Section 1035.2 of the Evidence Code, victim advocate, licensed health care provider, or counselor that the employee or a family member of the employee was undergoing treatment or seeking or receiving services directly related to the qualifying act of violence. (D) Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the qualifying act of violence occurred, including, but not limited to, a written statement signed by the employee, or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the absence is for a purpose authorized under this section. (3) To the extent allowed by law and consistent with subparagraph (D) of paragraph (7) of subdivision (e), the employer shall maintain the confidentiality of any employee requesting leave under paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (a), or subdivision (b). Furnishing evidence or providing a certification under this subdivision shall not waive any confidentiality or privilege that may exist between the employee or employee’s family member and a third party. (d) An employer shall not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee because of the employee’s status, or the employee’s family member’s status, as a victim if the employee provides notice to the employer of the status or the employer has actual knowledge of the status. (e) (1) An employer shall provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who is a victim or whose family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence who requests an accommodation for the safety of the employee while at work. (2) For purposes of this subdivision, reasonable accommodations may include the implementation of safety measures, including a transfer, reassignment, modified schedule, changed work telephone, permission to carry telephone at work, changed work station, installed lock, assistance in documenting domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or another qualifying act of violence that occurs in the workplace, an implemented safety procedure, or another adjustment to a job structure, workplace facility, or work requirement in response to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other qualifying act of violence, or referral to a victim assistance organization. (3) An employer is not required under this section to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee who has not disclosed the employee’s status, or the employee’s family member’s status, as a victim. (4) The employer shall engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process with the employee to determine effective reasonable accommodations. (5) In determining whether the accommodation is reasonable, the employer shall consider an exigent circumstance or danger facing the employee or their family member. (6) This subdivision does not require the employer to undertake an action that constitutes an undue hardship on the employer’s business operations, as defined by Section 12926 of the Government Code. For the purposes of this subdivision, an undue hardship also includes an action that would violate an employer’s duty to furnish and maintain a place of employment that is safe and healthful for all employees as required by Section 6400 of the Labor Code. (7) (A) Upon the request of an employer, an employee requesting a reasonable accommodation pursuant to this subdivision shall provide the employer a written statement signed by the employee or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the accommodation is for a purpose authorized under this subdivision. (B) The employer may also request certification from an employee requesting an accommodation pursuant to this subdivision demonstrating the employee’s status, or the employee’s family member’s status, as a victim. Certification shall be sufficient in the form of any of the categories described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c). (C) An employer who requests certification pursuant to subparagraph (B) may request recertification of an employee’s status, or an employee’s family member’s status, as a victim, or ongoing circumstances related to the qualifying act of violence, every six months after the date of the previous certification. (D) Any verbal or written statement, police or court record, or other documentation provided to an employer identifying an employee or the employee’s family member as a victim shall be maintained as confidential by the employer and shall not be disclosed by the employer except as required by federal or state law or as necessary to protect the employee’s safety in the workplace. The employee shall be given notice before any authorized disclosure. Furnishing evidence or providing a certification under this subdivision shall not waive any confidentiality or privilege that may exist between the employee or employee’s family member and a third party. (E) (i) If circumstances change and an employee needs a new accommodation, the employee shall request a new accommodation from the employer. (ii) Upon receiving the request, the employer shall engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process with the employee to determine effective reasonable accommodations. (F) If an employee no longer needs an accommodation, the employee shall notify the employer that the accommodation is no longer needed. (8) An employer shall not retaliate against an employee for requesting a reasonable accommodation under this subdivision, regardless of whether the request was granted. (f) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this section. (g) An employee may use vacation, personal leave, paid sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to the employee under the applicable terms of employment, unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement, for time taken off for a purpose specified in subdivision (a) or (b). The entitlement of any employee under this section shall not be diminished by any collective bargaining agreement term or condition. (h) This section does not create a right for an employee to take unpaid leave that exceeds the unpaid leave time allowed under, or is in addition to the unpaid leave time permitted by, the 12 weeks provided under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.). (i) An employer may limit the total leave taken pursuant to this section as follows: (1) An employer may limit total leave time taken pursuant to subdivision (b) to 12 weeks. (2) If an employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of a crime, and the employee is not a victim, and the employee takes leave pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (b), the employer may limit the leave taken for that reason to five days. (3) If any employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of crime, and the employee is not a victim, the employer may limit the total leave taken pursuant to subdivision (b) to 10 days. (4) Leave taken by an employee pursuant to this section shall run concurrently with leave taken pursuant to the federal Family a [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]