On Sept. 22, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 3234, which requires employers to disclose the results of audits on child labor practices. Specifically, effective Jan. 1, 2025, AB 3234 requires employers that voluntarily conduct a social compliance audit for the purposes of determining whether child labor is involved in the employer’s operations or practices to publish the audit findings on the company website.
AB 3234 offers little guidance on these disclosure duties. Indeed, it leaves critical compliance details unclear, including, for example, the deadline for posting reports after an audit, how long the report must remain online, and any penalties for noncompliance. There may be guidance from the California Labor Commissioner clarifying these and other unclear points. Until then, employers will face the difficult task of complying with a law that is ambiguous.
To be clear, AB 3234 does not mandate that employers engage in audits. It only places a disclosure obligation on those employers that voluntarily conduct audits to determine whether their operations comply with child labor laws. This required public disclosure of audits might now deter employers from voluntarily engaging in audits for fear of exposing themselves to litigation or governmental scrutiny as a consequence of publishing damaging audit results.
AB 3234 does not define “employer.” It also does not define the scope of an employer’s “...
In a combative interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral on...