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One to Keep An Eye On: SB 1044 (California)


As with many labor & employment law related cases (and bills) being litigated around the country, there are always a few that stand out.  This is one to keep an eye on.


In mid February, SB 1044 was introduced in the California Senate by Democratic Senator Maria Durango.  The proposed legislation would enable employees to leave work or refuse to show up if the employee subjectively feels unsafe regardless of existing health and safety standards or whether the employer has provided health and safety precautions.  The legislation would also prohibit an employer from preventing any employee from accessing a mobile device (or other communication device) to seek emergency assistance, assessing the safety of the situation, or communicating with a person to confirm their safety.  

Note, this legislation would only apply when there is a “state of emergency”…such as Covid, in which California is still under a state of emergency.  While that particular state of emergency will (hopefully) end soon(ish) in California, it can (and likely will) be reinstated at some point down the road or some other situation will evolve that creates another state of emergency.  This is my way of suggesting that a state of emergency could potentially always exist in California such that employees could lawfully leave work or refuse to show up because of their belief that they would feel unsafe.

So under SB 1044, if an employee that does not feel safe because they are exposed to someone that is not vaccinated, not wearing a mask, is standing closer than 6 feet, etc., they could lawfully leave work and not be subjected to punishment by the employer…so long as a state of emergency exists.

As some readers might imagine, this could be a potentially chaotic situation given that SB 1044 does not provide a carve out for emergency workers such that a police officer, medic, firefighter, etc could choose to walk off the job because of a concern over their safety.  The consequences (and potential dangers) that could happen if these workers left the job are massive.

At this time, SB 1044 is still working its way through the California Senate.  Keep an eye on this one, if for no other reason that it is one of the most unique employment or labor law related bills I have seen in some time.


For additional information:  https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/SB1044/2021


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