Bill Text: CA AB465 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Contracts against public policy.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2016-04-21 - Last day to consider Governor's veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. [AB465 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB465-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 465 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Roger Hern�ndez
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
An act to add Section 925 to the Labor Code, relating to
employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 465, Roger Hern�ndez. Contracts against public policy.
Existing law declares that negotiation of terms and conditions of
labor should result from voluntary agreement between employer and
employee. Existing law provides that any person who coerces or
compels any other person to enter into an agreement, written or
verbal, not to join or become a member of any labor organization, as
a condition of securing employment or continuing in employment, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would prohibit any person from requiring another person,
as a condition of employment, to agree to the waiver of any legal
right, penalty, forum, or procedure for any employment law
violations. The bill would prohibit a person from threatening,
retaliating against, or discriminating against another person based
on a refusal to agree to such waiver, and would provide that any such
waiver required from an employee or potential employee as a
condition of employment or continued employment is unconscionable,
against public policy, and unenforceable. The bill would require that
any waiver of a person's employment rights, not prohibited by state
or federal law, be knowing and voluntary and in writing, and
expressly not made as a condition of employment. The bill would
provide that a person seeking to enforce a waiver has the burden of
proof to show that the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The bill
would apply to any waiver agreement entered into on or after January
1, 2016, and would authorize an award of reasonable attorney's fees
to the prevailing claimant. The bill would except specified
self-regulatory organizations and specified employees from the
application of its provisions. The bill would provide that its
provisions are severable.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the
policy of the State of California to ensure that all persons have the
full benefit of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, and
procedures established in the Labor Code, and that individuals not be
deprived of those rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures
through the use of involuntary or coerced waivers.
(b) It is the purpose of this act to ensure that a contract to
waive any of the rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures
under the Labor Code, including any provision that has the effect of
limiting the full application or enforcement of any right, remedy,
forum, or procedure available under the Labor Code, is a matter of
voluntary consent, not coercion.
SEC. 2. Section 925 is added to the Labor Code, to read:
925. (a) A person shall not require another person to waive any
legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of
any provision of this code, as a condition of employment, including
the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint with, or
otherwise notify, the Labor Commissioner, state agency, other public
prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or any court or other
governmental entity.
(b) A person shall not threaten, retaliate, or discriminate
against another person on the basis that the other person refuses to
waive any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a
violation of this code, including the right to file and pursue a
civil action or complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Labor
Commissioner, state agency, other public prosecutor, law enforcement
agency, or any court or other governmental entity.
(c) Except for any legal right, penalty, forum, or procedure that
state or federal law prohibits from being waived, any waiver of any
legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of
this code, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or
complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Labor Commissioner, state
agency, other public prosecutor, law enforcement agency, or any court
or other governmental entity shall be knowing and voluntary and in
writing, and expressly not made as a condition of employment.
(d) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
procedure for a violation of this code that is required as a
condition of employment shall be deemed involuntary, unconscionable,
against public policy, and unenforceable. Nothing in this subdivision
shall affect the enforceability or validity of any other provision
of the contract.
(e) Any person who seeks to enforce a waiver of any legal right,
penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this code
shall have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and
voluntary and not made as a condition of employment.
(f) This section shall apply to any agreement to waive any legal
right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this
code, including an agreement to accept private arbitration, entered
into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after January 1,
2016.
(g) In addition to injunctive relief and any other remedies
available, a court may award a plaintiff enforcing his or her rights
under this section reasonable attorney's fees.
(h) This section does not apply to a person registered with a
self-regulatory organization as defined by the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 78c) or regulations adopted under that
act pertaining to any requirement of a self-regulatory organization
that a person arbitrate disputes that arise between the person and
his or her employer or any other person as specified by the rules of
the self-regulatory organization.
(i) This section shall not apply to an employee who is
individually represented by legal counsel in negotiating the terms of
an agreement to waive any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
procedure for a violation of this code.
(j) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision
of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application.
