Gov. Edmund G. Brown has now signed or vetoed employment-related legislation passed by the California Legislature this year. The governor did not act on many of the bills until this past weekend, even waiting until hours before the deadline of midnight on September 30. 

A few of the new laws that employers need to be aware of this year include:

• Changes to the definition of “sex” under the anti-discrimination statutes to include breastfeeding and related medical conditions (AB 2386);
• Prohibitions on requesting social media passwords from applicants and employees (AB 1844); 
• Changes related to inspection of personnel records (AB 2674); and 
• Workers’ Compensation reform (SB 863).

Author: Gail Cecchettini Whaley

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