USA – CALIFORNIA Law and Practice Contributed by: William C. Martucci, Laura M. Booth, Ashley N. Harrison and Carrie A. McAtee, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
able work-related expenses such as internet and cell phone usage incurred while working remotely. California employers are responsible for protecting remote employees’ personal data, which can be less secure for employees working remotely due to the use of home internet and personal devices. 5.2 Sabbaticals California does not have any restrictions on sabbatical leave in the private sector. However, California does recognise a difference between sabbatical leave and vacation leave. Vested vacation leave is governed by California Labor Code, Section 227.3, which requires employers to pay out accrued and unused vacation time at the end of employment. This does not apply to sabbatical leave. Sabbatical leave is treated like an employee retention programme and is typically gov - California is often on the forefront of regulations and statutory requirements for new work manifestations. Currently, the largest shift in working environments comes from the use of artificial intelligence. California regulates the use of AI in certain employment con - texts, like hiring and firing. The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has adopted a set of regulations that would require employers to show any AI hiring filters are free from discrimination in the categories protected by the Fair Employment Housing Act (FEHA) and to keep AI records for a period of time. The Cali - fornia legislature has also put forward SB 7, which would further regulate the use of AI in employment decisions. erned by the employer’s policy alone. 5.3 Other New Manifestations
Union rights and regulations are governed at the fed - eral level by the NLRA, which protects the rights of employees to form, join, and support a union. California has state-level regulations on unions as well, set out in the California Labor Code. For example: • Collective Bargaining – California Labor Code, Section 923 sets forth California’s public policy to ensure employees have full freedom of associa - tion, self-organisation, and the ability to designate representatives of their choosing for collective bargaining. • Prohibition of Promises Against Public Policy – Cal - ifornia Labor Code, Section 921 prohibits promises between employees and employers that require joining, remaining, or refraining from joining labour organisations, as such promises contrary to public policy. • Jurisdictional Strikes – California Labor Code, Sec - tion 1115 declares jurisdictional strikes unlawful and against public policy. • Employer-Dominated Unions – California Labor Code, Section 1122 provides liability for employ - ers that organise or control unions and employee groups, allowing injured parties to recover dam - ages. California also has a state agency, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), which enforces California’s labour laws, including labour laws related to unions. In California’s public sector, relations between pub - lic entities and their employers are governed by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) (California Govern - ment Code, Section 3500 et seq). 6.2 Employee Representative Bodies Unions typically serve as the representative bodies for employees in California. Employees’ decision to form a union, their representatives, and the bargaining agreements between the union and the employer are governed by the NLRA and overseen by the NLRB. 6.3 Collective Bargaining Agreements Once employees form a union, they may enter into a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the
6. Collective Relations 6.1 Unions
California has a strong union presence, with more than 3,000 labour unions. In 2024, union members accounted for 14.5% of wage and salary workers in California, as compared to the national rate of 9.9%. California also has the highest number of union mem - bers in any state (2.4 million). And in the public sec - tor, unions represent more than 80% of California’s 200,000+ state employees.
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