SB 1044 passed the California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee on Monday, March 21, 2022. SB 1044 would prohibit an employer, in the event of a state of emergency or an emergency condition, from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace within the affected area because the employee feels unsafe. Furthermore, employees would be permitted to leave work regardless of existing health and safety standards and regardless of whether or not the employer has provided health and safety protections.

What Is a State of Emergency or Emergency Condition?

SB 1044 defines “state of emergency” as the existence of any of the following in the county where a worker lives or works, and poses an imminent and ongoing risk of harm to the worker, the worker’s home, or the worker’s workplace:

• A presidential declaration of a major disaster or emergency, caused by natural forces.
• A declared state of emergency or local emergency due to conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons or property within the affected area caused by natural forces.
• A federal, state, regional, or county alert of imminent threat to life or property due to a natural disaster or emergency.

SB 1044 also permits employees to walk off the job in an “emergency condition,” which means the existence of either of the following:

• An event that poses serious danger to the structure of a workplace or to a worker’s immediate...

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