California Passes New Law on Unlawful Discrimination and Paid Sick Days

Effective January 1, 2025, a new law moves certain requirements concerning jury duty, court duty and time off for victims of crime from the Labor Code to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

Prohibitions

Under AB 2499, an employer is prohibited from doing any of the following:

1. Discharging or discriminating against an employee for taking time off to serve as required by law on an inquest jury or trial jury, if the employee, prior to taking the time off, gives reasonable notice to the employer that the employee is required to serve;
2. Discharging, discriminating, or retaliating 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; and
3. Discharging, discriminating, or retaliating against an employee who’s 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.

An employer with 25 or more employees can’t discharge, discriminate, or retaliate against an employee who’s 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. That includes, inter alia, a temporary restraining order, a 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 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.

The new law defines a “qualifying act of violence” as any of the following, no matter if anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for or convicted of committing any crime:

1. domestic violence;
2. sexual assault;
3. stalking; and
4. an act, conduct, or pattern of conduct that includes any of the following: 
   1. In which an individual causes bodily injury or death to another individual.
   2. In which an individual exhibits, draws, brandishes, or uses a firearm, or other dangerous weapon, with respect to another individual.
   3. In which an individual uses, or makes a reasonably perceived or actual threat to use, force against another individual to cause physical injury or death.

“Family member” means a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner, as those terms are defined in Government Code § 12945.2 or designated person. A “designated person” is defined any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The designated person may be identified by the employee at the time the employee requests the leave. An employer may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period for leave pursuant to this section.

The law limits this leave to 12 weeks total: five days for the purposes of helping a family member relocate, if the family member is a victim and the employee isn’t a victim; and 10 days if the employee’s family is a victim who’s not deceased, and the employee isn’t a victim.

The bill expands this paid sick leave requirement to include the additional purposes for which the bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against, the employee, as specified.

Takeaway

The expands the paid sick leave requirement to include the additional purposes in the bill and prohibits an employer from discharging, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against, the employee as detailed in the bill. For example, a number of protections under FEHA and paid sick leave apply to any employee who’s a victim of a qualifying acts of violence and also to any employee who has a family member who is a victim of a qualifying acts of violence.