Bill Text: CA SB731 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Employment discrimination: unlawful practices: work from home: disability.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2024-01-25 - Veto sustained. [SB731 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB731-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  April 20, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 731

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Introduced by Senator Ashby

February 17, 2023

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An act to add Section 12940.2 to the Government Code, relating to employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 731, as amended, Ashby. Employment discrimination: unlawful practices: disability: work from home. work from home: disability.

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), protects the right to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination because of prescribed characteristics. FEHA makes various employment practices unlawful and empowers the Civil Rights Department to investigate and prosecute complaints alleging unlawful practices. FEHA makes it an unlawful practice for an employer or other entity to fail to make reasonable accommodation for the known physical or mental disability of an applicant or employee. FEHA further makes it an unlawful practice for an employer or other entity to fail to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process with the employee or applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, in response to a request for reasonable accommodation by an employee or applicant with a known physical or mental disability or known medical condition.

This bill would authorize an employee with a qualifying disability, as defined, to initiate a renewed reasonable accommodation request to perform their work remotely if certain requirements are met, including that the employee performed their essential job functions remotely for at least 6 of the 24 months preceding the renewed request. The bill would require an employer to grant the renewed request if those specified requirements are met. Under the bill, the employer’s obligation to provide remote work as a reasonable accommodation would end if the employee can no longer perform all of their essential job functions remotely. The bill would prescribe notice requirements if the employer denies a renewed request. The bill would authorize an employer to request written notice from the employee’s medical provider to determine if the employee has a qualifying disability.

This bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to provide an employee who is working from home pursuant to an agreement with, or policy of, the employer with at least 30 days’ advance notice before requiring that employee to return to work in person. The bill would require that notice to include, at a minimum, prescribed text with information about the rights of an employee to reasonable accommodation for a disability.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 12940.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12940.2.

 (a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to provide an employee who is working from home pursuant to an agreement with, or policy of, the employer with at least 30 days’ advance notice before requiring that employee to return to work in person.

(b) The notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following text:

“You have the right to ask your employer to allow you to continue working remotely as an accommodation if you have a disability. Your employer is required to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process to determine if there are effective reasonable accommodations for your disability, including working remotely. If you are able to perform all of your essential job functions while working remotely, your employer must grant your request unless it would create an undue hardship for your employer, an alternative reasonable accommodation is available, or you do not meet the definition of disability under the law. You can learn more about your rights at https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/accommodation/.”

SECTION 1.Section 12940.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12940.2.

(a)For purposes of this section “qualifying disability” means an employee’s medical provider has determined that the employee has a disability that significantly impacts the employee’s ability to work outside of their home.

(b)An employee with a qualifying disability may initiate a renewed reasonable accommodation request to perform their work remotely if all of the following requirements are met:

(1)The employee requested remote work as a reasonable accommodation before March 1, 2020, and that request was denied or an alternative accommodation was provided.

(2)The employee performed their essential job functions remotely for at least 6 of the 24 months preceding the renewed request.

(3)The employee’s essential job functions are the same at the time of the renewed request as when the employee performed their work remotely as described in paragraph (2).

(c)An employer shall grant a renewed request made pursuant to subdivision (b) if the requirements in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (b) are met.

(d)The employer shall not be obligated to provide remote work as a reasonable accommodation under this section if the employee can no longer perform all of their essential job functions remotely.

(e)If the employer denies a renewed request, the employer shall do both of the following:

(1)Provide written notice to the employee within 30 days of denial, including providing the employer’s reasons for denial.

(2)Give the employee 30 days’ notice to report back to inperson work.

(f)If the employee’s renewed request under subdivision (b) is denied or revoked under subdivision (d), this section does not prohibit the employee from requesting remote work as a reasonable accommodation under subdivision (m) of Section 12940, and this section does not limit an employer’s duty to comply with subdivisions (m) and (n) of Section 12940.

(g)The employer may request written notice from the employee’s medical provider to determine if the employee has a qualifying disability.