The California Legislature passed a bill Tuesday that aims to give workers earlier notice in the event of mass layoffs. Next is governor. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

The bill, Assembly Bill 1356, would extend the notice period for impending layoffs, closures or relocations from 60 to 75 days, as required under the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act.

The bill originally sought to extend the notice period to 90 days, but was amended. If passed, the law would apply to any employer with 50 or more employees in a single location.

“This is the largest expansion of employment protections for California workers in probably 30 years,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), author of the bill. “This is something that all workers deserve when they’re in this really disruptive situation where they’re being laid off.”

The legislation is inspired by the large-scale layoffs at Google, Meta and other technology companies in the past year. In particular, Twitter’s haphazard handling of layoffs after billionaire Elon Musk bought the company in 2022 led to lawsuits from laid-off employees who said they did not receive the notice required by law. (Musk recently rebranded the social media platform X.)

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Haney said he heard from all kinds of employees on Twitter in the aftermath.

“Everyone from janitors to engineers were told to pack up and be out by the end of the week,” Haney said. “They didn’t do anything wrong.”

Some were on immigrant visas and immediately worried about their ability to stay in the country, pay rent and care for their families, Haney said.

We’ve been calling it the Twitter firing bill for months, said Nate Allbee, a spokesman for Haney.

San Francisco makes a lot of concessions on taxes and benefits to get tech companies here, Allbee said. But if workers are thrown out of the blue, it could mean losing our greatest assets, the workers, to other states and cities.

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The measure also extends the WARN Act to people employed by a contract worker. For the rules to apply to contract workers, they must have worked for at least six months out of 12 months and at least 60 hours prior to the date on which a mass dismissal is required. The wording in the bill clarifies that employees of a contract worker who completes a temporary project with a specified end date are exempt.

Haney singled out Twitter because, he said, it laid off 4,400 of its 5,500 contract workers without notice or severance, noting that contract workers often do the same work as people employed directly by a company, but they earn less and receive fewer benefits and have fewer employment conditions. less career mobility.

The legislation also prohibits employers from pressuring employees to give up their rights through waivers, non-disclosure agreements or non-disparagement agreements in exchange for stiff incentives.

A whole bunch of labor bills

The Legislature also approved a bill Tuesday that would require employers to develop workplace violence prevention plans.

Last week, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 403, which would amend the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to prohibit discrimination against workers based on their caste.

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The caste discrimination bill was prompted in part by allegations that an engineer at Cisco’s San Jose headquarters faced discrimination because he is a Dalit Indian. Once called untouchables, Dalits have long been at the bottom of India’s social hierarchy, and inequality and violence against Dalits persist in many South Asian communities. Regulators in California sued Cisco in 2020 over the allegations.

Big pay increases for fast food workers

Fast food workers in California are poised to land big pay raises under an agreement announced Monday by SEIU California and fast food companies, after

dared

a years-long battle over measures the union has pushed to raise wages and improve conditions for low-wage workers at chain restaurants across the state.

The two sides agreed to set a minimum wage of $20 per hour starting in April 2024 at fast-food restaurant chains with more than 60 locations across the country. That’s a big increase from that

stands

state minimum wage, which will be $16 an hour next year.

Under the deal, restaurateurs agreed to scrap an industry-backed referendum that included a law seeking to give fast-food workers a seat at the table in negotiations for better wages and working conditions.

Restaurateurs got something in return. The deal is a bull’s eye

local

The efforts of cities or counties to pursue higher wage increases until the agreement expires in 2029. And an attempt to hold companies jointly liable for franchisees’ labor violations will not pass.

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A separate agreement between SEIU California and healthcare players would give California healthcare workers a $25 minimum wage, barring major problems. The industry agreed to the increase in exchange for a 10-year moratorium on local measures aimed at increasing compensation for medical workers, CalMatters said.

The deadline for passing bills during the current session of the California Legislature is Friday. Gov. Newsom wants until October. 14 to sign the last batch of bills, approve the bills without signing them, or veto the bills.