SHRM and the California State Council of SHRM (CalSHRM) oppose California State Senate Bill (SB) 399, saying it would chill employer speech via “captive-audience” meetings.
SB 399 would prohibit both public and private employers in California from taking an adverse employment action against an employee because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to communications regarding the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters. Political matters include unionization.
While SB 399 aims to address workplace incivility, the legislation in its current form would have significant unintended consequences—including stifling conversations that promote civility, wrote Emily M. Dickens, J.D., SHRM chief of staff, head of government affairs, and corporate secretary, and Michael S. Kalt, J.D., government affairs director for CalSHRM, in a June 5 letter to State Sen. Aisha Wahab, the bill’s author.
“The overly broad language used in the bill pertaining to ‘employer-sponsored meetings’ and ‘participating in, receiving, or listening to any communications’ creates significant uncertainty for California employers that seek to create open, civil dialogues with employees,” Dickens and Kalt wrote.
“We would also like to emphasize that existing California law under 2023 Cal. Lab. Code Section 1101 and 2023 C. Lab. Code Section 1102 and federal law under the National Labor Relations Act [NLRA]...
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