Plain English Breakdown
The official metadata does not list an effective date for this legislation.
AB-1371: Rules for Refusing Unsafe Work Tasks
This law allows workers acting in good faith to refuse tasks they believe are dangerous, requires employers to pay them during scheduled hours until the risk is resolved, and removes protections specifically listed for domestic work employees.
What This Bill Does
- Allows an employee acting in good faith to refuse a task if it violates safety standards or could cause injury or illness.
- Requires that the refusal happens only after notifying the employer of the risk, unless doing so is not reasonably practical.
- Mandates employers pay full wages during scheduled work hours until the employee can conclude the task no longer poses a serious risk.
- Prohibits employers from using an employee's refusal as grounds for disciplinary action and applies retaliation protections.
- Removes the rule that previously defined 'employee' to include domestic work employees under these specific provisions.
Who It Names or Affects
- Employees who face tasks they believe violate safety standards or could cause injury
- Employers subject to the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973
- The Division of Occupational Safety and in the Department of Industrial Relations, which enforces the act
Terms To Know
- Good faith
- Acting with an honest belief that a task is dangerous.
- Reasonably practical
- Something that can be done without unreasonable difficulty or risk when notifying the employer.
- Retaliation protections
- Rules preventing employers from punishing workers for using their legal rights to refuse unsafe work.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law no longer includes domestic work employees in the definition of 'employee' for these specific refusal provisions.
- Employers must pay wages only until the employee can reasonably conclude the task is safe, not indefinitely or based solely on personal feeling without reasonable conclusion.