SB187 - Employment.

Amended IN Assembly August 28, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 187 Introduced by Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review January 23, 2025 An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025. to amend Sections 19816.18, 20305, and 22953 of, to amend and repeal Section 3556 of, and to add Section 20899.7 to, the Government Code, and to add Section 2695.4 to the Labor Code, relating to employment, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 187, as amended, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Budget Act of 2025. Employment. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2025. (1) Existing law generally grants public employees the right to join employee organizations and to be represented by those organizations in their employment relations. Existing law requires specified public employers to provide exclusive employee representatives access to new employee orientations, as prescribed. Existing law entitles an exclusive representative, if the public employer has not conducted an in-person new employee orientation within 30 days of a newly hired employee’s start date, and the new employee is working in person, to schedule an in-person meeting at the worksite during employment hours, as prescribed, during which newly hired employees are required to have the opportunity to attend and be relieved of other duties for the purpose of attending the meeting. These in-person meeting requirements are repealed as of June 30, 2027. Under this bill, such an in-person meeting would satisfy the requirements of existing law for the purpose of providing mandatory access to the employees’ new employee orientation and onboarding process. The bill would also remove the repeal for the in-person meeting requirements, thereby making those requirements operative indefinitely. By extending the operation of duties for various local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Human Resources to self-fund or self-insure a benefit program under its administration when it is cost effective to do so. Existing law authorizes the department to administer the self-funded or self-insured benefit program directly or to contract with a third-party administrator. Existing law creates the State Employees’ Self-Funded Benefit Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund, created in the State Treasury, for use by the department to make benefit payments and pay related administrative costs. This bill would authorize any contract entered into pursuant to these provisions to provide for a claims fund reserve account to be maintained with respect to the benefit program for the purpose of administering benefit programs, including deducting contracted benefit program expenses. The bill authorizes the account to be used for, among other things, defraying increases in future premiums. The bill would authorize an account that is established for these purposes to be created outside of the centralized State Treasury System utilizing the taxpayer identification number of a contracted carrier, subject to meeting specified criteria, including that deposited funds are segregated and clearly identifiable. By authorizing new uses of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law authorizes the state, through the Department of Human Resources, the Trustees of the California State University, or the Regents of the University of California, to contract with carriers for dental care plans for employees, annuitants, and eligible family members. Existing law prohibits a dental care plan contract from being entered into unless funds are appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose. Existing law provides that if a dental care plan is self-funded, funds used for that plan will be considered continuously appropriated. This bill would authorize any contract entered into pursuant to these provisions to provide for a claims fund reserve account to be maintained with respect to the benefit program for purposes of administering benefit programs, including deducting contracted benefit program expenses. The bill would authorize an account that is established for these purposes to be created outside of the centralized State Treasury System utilizing the taxpayer identification number of a contracted carrier, subject to meeting specified criteria, including that deposited funds are segregated and clearly identifiable. (4) The Public Employees’ Retirement Law (PERL) creates the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) to provide a defined benefit to its members based on age at retirement, service credit, and compensation, as specified. PERL excludes from membership an employee whose appointment or employment contract does not fix a term of full-time, continuous employment in excess of 6 months, unless that person comes within specific exceptions. Among those exceptions, PERL includes an exception for a person who is a member of certain enumerated state boards and elects to become a member. This bill would expand this exception to additionally include the board members of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, as specified, thereby allowing their membership in PERS if they elect to do so. The bill would also specify how these board members would have their service credit in PERS calculated, including for service prior to January 1, 2027. This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to existing law. (5) Existing law establishes labor provisions specifically applicable to sheepherders, including authorizing an employer of a sheepherder to pay a specified monthly minimum wage as an alternative to paying the minimum wage for all hours worked to sheepherders employed on a regularly scheduled 24-hour shift on a 7-days-per-week “on-call” basis. Existing law provides that an employer, or any other person acting on behalf of the employer, who violates or causes to be violated those provisions is subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each underpaid employee for each pay period during which the employee was underpaid, plus an amount sufficient to recover the unpaid wages for an initial violation and $250 for any subsequent violation. This bill would, until January 1, 2029, establish similar labor protections for goat herders, as defined, relating to wages, meal and rest periods, lodging, and other conditions of employment and require every employer of goat herders, except as specified, to post a copy of these provisions, and the provisions applicable to sheepherders, in an area frequented by goat herders where it may be easily read during the workday in a language understood by the goat herder. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO YES Fiscal Committee: NO YES Local Program: NO YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2025. SECTION 1. Section 3556 of the Government Code, as amended by Section 4 of Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 2024, is amended to read: 3556. (a) Each public employer described in subdivision (a) of Section 3555.5 shall provide the exclusive representative mandatory access to its new employee orientations. The exclusive representative shall receive not less than 10 days’ notice in advance of an orientation, except that a shorter notice may be provided in a specific instance where there is an urgent need critical to the employer’s operations that was not reasonably foreseeable. The structure, time, and manner of exclusive representative access shall be determined through mutual agreement between the employer and the exclusive representative, subject to the requirements of Section 3557, and the agreement may expressly waive or modify requirements set forth in this section. The date, time, and place of the orientation shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the employees, the exclusive representative, or a vendor that is contracted to provide a service for purposes of the orientation. (b) If the public employer has not conducted an inperson in-person new employee orientation within 30 days of a newly hired employee’s start date, and the new employee is working in person, the exclusive representative shall be entitled to schedule an inperson in-person meeting at the worksite during employment hours, during which newly hired employees shall have the opportunity to attend and shall be relieved of other duties for the purpose of attending the meeting. This meeting shall satisfy the requirements of subdivision (a) for the purpose of providing mandatory access to the employees’ new employee orientation and onboarding process. During this meeting, the exclusive representative shall be permitted to communicate directly with newly hired employees in the applicable bargaining unit for up to 30 minutes on paid time. Employers shall provide appropriate on-site meeting space within seven calendar days of receiving a request from the exclusive representative. This section does not prohibit an employer from agreeing with an exclusive representative to provide more than 30 minutes of paid time for communicating with newly hired employees pursuant to this section. (c) If the state or a local public health agency issues an order limiting the size of gatherings, the exclusive representative may schedule multiple meetings to ensure that newly hired employees have the opportunity to attend without exceeding the maximum allowable number of people. If such an order prohibits all gatherings, the exclusive representative may schedule a meeting or meetings once the order is lifted or modified to permit gatherings. Alternative access pursuant to these provisions shall be determined through mutual agreement between the employer and the exclusive representative. (d) This section shall remain in effect only until June 30, 2027, and as of that date is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 3556 of the Government Code, as amended by Section 5 of Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 2024, is repealed. 3556. (a) Each public employer described in subdivision (a) of Section 3555.5 shall provide the exclusive representative mandatory access to its new employee orientations. The exclusive representative shall receive not less than 10 days’ notice in advance of an orientation, except that a shorter notice may be provided in a specific instance where there is an urgent need critical to the employer’s operations that was not reasonably foreseeable. The structure, time, and manner of exclusive representative access shall be determined through mutual agreement between the employer and the exclusive representative, subject to the requirements of Section 3557, and the agreement may expressly waive or modify requirements set forth in this section. The date, time, and place of the orientation shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the employees, the exclusive representative, or a vendor that is contracted to provide a service for purposes of the orientation. (b) This section shall become operative June 30, 2027. SEC. 3. Section 19816.18 of the Government Code is amended to read: 19816.18. (a) The department may either self-fund or self-insure any benefit program under its administration when it is cost effective to do so. The department may administer the self-funded or self-insured benefit program directly or may contract with a third party third-party administrator. The Treasurer, Controller, and the Department of Finance shall assist the department to ensure that the appropriate fiscal and administrative procedures are established. These procedures shall include, but not be limited to, processes, fund accounts, and transfers from each department’s operating budget, including a pro rata share of the cost of administration. Notwithstanding any other law, the Public Employees’ Retirement System shall assist the department upon request by providing retiree names and addresses to the department solely for the purpose of notifying retirees of eligibility for enrollment into a dental plan, vision plan, group legal insurance plan, or life insurance plan offered by the department. Any information provided to the department shall be treated as confidential by the department. (b) Funds appropriated for self-funded or self-insured benefit programs established pursuant to this section shall be maintained in the State Employees’ Self-Funded Benefit Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in this fund shall be used by the department to make benefit payments and pay related administrative costs. Income of whatever nature earned on the moneys in the State Employees’ Self-Funded Benefit Fund during any fiscal year shall be credited to the fund. The Controller and the Department of Finance may establish individual accounts within the fund, as deemed appropriate, for individual self-funded or self-insured benefit programs. Notwithstanding Section 13340, moneys in this fund and accounts within the fund that are used to pay benefits for a self-funded or self-insured program established pursuant to this section are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years. (c) Any contract entered into pursuant to this section may provide for a claims fund reserve account to be maintained with respect to the benefit program for the purpose of administering benefit programs, including, but not limited to, deducting contracted benefit program expenses. The account may also be used to defray increases in future premiums, reduce contributions of employees, annuitants, and employers, to implement cost containment programs, or to increase benefits provided by a benefit plan. (d) An account established pursuant to subdivision (c) may be created outside of the centralized State Treasury System utilizing the taxpayer identification number of a contracted carrier, subject to the following provisions: (1) Funds deposited under the carrier’s tax identification number and any interest earned from those funds remain the property of the state, subject to all applicable laws, policies, and fiscal controls. (2) Any funds remaining in the account after the term of the contract are returned to the state. (3) Any funds shall be u [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]