Bill Text: CA AB2321 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 2321

Introduced

Bill Title: Prisons: employee accommodations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-10 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. [AB2321 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2321-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2321

Introduced by Assembly Member Ortega

February 12, 2024

An act to add Section 5009.1 to the Penal Code, relating to prisons.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2321, as introduced, Ortega. Prisons: employee accommodations.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to contract for, among other things, clothing, provisions, and supplies necessary to support prisons.

This bill would require the department to provide its employees with reasonable and appropriate personal protective equipment based on the employee’s individual needs. This bill would prohibit the department from enforcing its policy that staff be clean shaven. The bill would require the department to establish a task force, as specified, to ensure the department’s policies are inclusive and address their impact on minority racial and religious communities. The bill would require the department to develop a step-by-step procedure for submission of accommodation requests and the interactive process the department will follow when engaging with employees.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 5009.1 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

5009.1.

(a) For purposes of this section, “personal protective equipment” (PPE) means any of the following:

(1) Protective equipment for the eyes, face, head, and extremities.

(2) Respiratory devices.

(3) Protective shield and barriers, including N95 and other filtering facepiece respirators, elastomeric air-purifying respirators with appropriate particulate filters or cartridges, or powered air-purifying respirators.

(4) Disinfecting and sterilizing devices and supplies.

(5) Medical gowns and apparel.

(6) Face or surgical masks.

(7) Face shields.

(8) Gloves.

(9) Shoe coverings.

(10) Equipment otherwise covered or necessary to comply with Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(b) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall provide each of its employees with reasonable and appropriate PPE based on the employee’s individual needs. The department shall create and implement workplace policies without infringing on the protected rights of its employees, consistent with applicable laws, including Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, and state and federal civil rights law. The department shall do each of the following:

(1) Upon request, provide each employee who has a religious or medical reason for a beard with reasonable accommodations, including, but not limited to, alternative PPE.

(2) Commencing January 1, 2025, no longer enforce its policy requiring all employees to be clean shaven.

(3) (A) Consult with stakeholder civil rights organizations, professional organizations, and community-based organizations with expertise regarding PPE and religious and medical accommodations, including, but not limited to, groups that represent the interests of employees who are most likely to be impacted by no-beard policies, to determine the impact of a policy change for those communities.

(B) As part of the consultation, the department shall establish a task force consisting of the stakeholders described in subparagraph (A) and the Civil Rights Department. The department shall consult with the task force on policy drafts and implementation of policy, prior to finalization, and provide a meaningful opportunity for the task force to review policies and provide feedback.

(C) The task force shall meet monthly, or more frequently if needed, to ensure the department’s policies are inclusive and address their impact on minority racial and religious communities.

(c) If an accommodation analysis and interactive process is required, the department shall provide each employee, who has a medical or religious requirement for having a beard, with interim accommodations or remedies in order to maintain their beard while working during the timeframe their accommodation request is pending. These interim accommodations or remedies shall include, but not be limited to, any of the following:

(1) Not requiring the employee to exhaust paid time off (PTO) or other accrued leave while a review of their request for reasonable accommodations is pending.

(2) Restoring any lost PTO, sick time, wages, or other pension-related or employment penalty that an employee has experienced to avoid shaving since submission of their accommodation request, or while their religious or medical accommodation request is or was pending or under appeal.

(3) Providing clear guidance that indicates that any employee who continues to work or shave while their religious or medical accommodation request is pending does not forfeit that accommodation request unless they specifically do so in writing to their supervisor.

(4) A review of the department’s legal obligations under the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, as contained in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, applicable state and federal civil rights law, and local operational policies. This review shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(A) An assessment of the department’s operations and potential workplace hazards, as compared to other state and federal prison systems, in order to develop and implement inclusive respirator and facial hair policies and programs for the department’s employees. The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, a review of hazards from aerosol, transmissible diseases, and tear gas. The department shall share its workplace safety assessments and job hazard assessments with stakeholder groups and each employee.

(B) (i) A reasonable assessment of all available alternative PPE options, including, but not limited to, powered air-purifying respirators, controlled air-purifying respirators, self-contained breathing apparatus, supplied air respirator, or combination respirators for protection of employees with facial hair or other limitations to wearing readily available and tight-fitting masks or respirators such as N95 respirators. The assessment process shall include, but is not limited to, consulting with certified industrial hygienists, respirator manufacturers, or other relevant industries, manufacturers, or trade associations.

(ii) If any of the alternative PPE options are rejected, the department shall maintain specific, detailed records for why PPE was found unsuitable for use by staff.

(iii) The department shall make the findings of any comparisons and reviews available to its employees.

(d) The department shall develop a step-by-step procedure for submission of accommodation requests and the interactive process the department will follow when engaging with employees. The procedure shall be included in the Department Operations Manual and all related forms and regulations. The procedure shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) How employees may request religious and medical accommodations.

(2) How employees may file an appeal upon denial of an accommodation request.

(3) Specific timelines for review and response of medical and religious accommodation requests, not to exceed 30 days from the date of the request. Upon approval of the request, the department shall have an additional 30 days to procure and provide the alternative PPE.