On Friday, October 9, the Governor signed SB 331, which imposes hurdles for public agencies seeking to enact “Civic Openness in Negotiations” (COIN) measures. (I previously wrote about SB 331 here.) I was holding out hope that the Governor would veto this cynical bill but he ended up signing it.
On Sunday, October 11, the Governor vetoed SB 406, which would have expanded the coverage and scope of the California Family Rights Act. (I previously wrote about SB 406 here.) In this veto message, the Governor stated:
I support the author’s efforts to ensure that eligible workers can take leave to care for a seriously ill family member. The expansion provided in this bill, however, creates a disparity between California’s law and the Federal Medical Leave Act and, in certain circumstances, could require employers to provide employees up to 24 weeks of family leave in a 12 month period. I am open to legislation to allow workers to take leave for additional family members that does not create this anomaly.
I must admit, I had assumed that the Governor was likely to sign this bill. However, the Governor picked up on a flaw in the bill that would have allowed an employee to take 12 weeks of leave under CFRA and then another 12 weeks under FMLA in certain situations. I expect that the author will introduce the same bill next year but with a clause that limits employees to a total of 12 weeks of leave under both CFRA and FMLA.
This entry was posted in Legislation, News.
Previous post: SB 406: Expands California Family Leave Act