Any one of three bills still advancing through the California Legislature’s 2022 session will have broad consequences for California employers if enacted. The Legislature has until August 31 to pass pending bills and send them to the Governor, who will have until September 30, 2022, to sign or veto them. This post briefs you on three important bills we are watching.
Employees Could Skip Out of Work in Emergencies Under Senate Bill
Senate Bill 1044, if enacted, would allow employees to leave work or refuse to report to work with impunity if they reasonably believe the worksite is unsafe during an “emergency condition.” More specifically, the bill would make it unlawful for an employer to take or threaten adverse action against an employee for refusing to report to or for leaving a worksite during an emergency condition if the employee reasonably believes the work location is unsafe. Under the bill, “emergency conditions” are circumstances where “natural forces or a criminal act” create conditions of “extreme peril to the safety of persons or property.” First responders, healthcare facility employees and employees in other specified roles are excluded from this part of the bill.
Where an order is made to evacuate a worksite, an employee’s home or the school of an employee’s child, the bill would make it unlawful for an employer to bar the employee from using their cell phone or other device while on duty to let someone know they are safe, to call for emergency assistance or...
The Bermuda Monetary Authority [BMA] has warned that an entity calling itself Custody Life Bermuda Ltd has falsely claimed to be licensed and regulated by the Authority, and has added the company t...