Q: I heard a new law was recently signed called the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022. I’m a small employer, should I be concerned about this new law?
A: On Sept. 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 523, known as the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022, which becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2023.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects individuals from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in employment on the basis of their membership in a protected class as listed by the FEHA. Those protected classes include race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and military and veteran status.
The Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022 amends the FEHA by including “reproductive health decisionmaking” as a protected class, making it unlawful to harass or discriminate against individuals on the basis of their “reproductive health decisionmaking,” which includes, but is not limited to, an individual’s decision to use or access a particular drug, device, product, or medical service for reproductive health.
What does this mean?
The FEHA discrimination laws continue to apply to employers who regularly employ five or more people, and the FEHA harassment laws continue to apply to employers who regularly employ one or more people. Therefore, employers who meet these thresholds will need to...
Supreme Court has directed all States to probe motor vehicle insurance claims after it was found that fraudulent methods are being employed to cheat insurance firms. Make Us Your Preferred Sourc...