Saving the best for last:  The hundreds of bills passed in the California Legislature’s last two weeks of the 2013 session are either on, or still making their way to, Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.  He has until the second weekend in October to sign or veto them.  Historically, the governor’s veto rate in his second administration has been around 15 percent.  Governor Brown traditionally waits until it is close to the signing deadline to make his decisions on end-of-session bills, so expect most of the action to occur in the second week of October.

At this writing, none of the bills previously listed as pending in our last blog post have been reported as signed or vetoed.

Another addition to our watch list:

SB 496 (last amended September 6) as it affects private sector employers, would expand existing whistleblower protections and rights to prohibit an employer from making, adopting, or enforcing any rule, regulation, or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to a government or law enforcement agency, if the employee has reasonable cause to believe that the information discloses a violation of, or noncompliance with, a local rule or regulation.  The bill would prohibit an employer from retaliating against an employee because the employer believes that the employee disclosed or may disclose information to a government or law enforcement agency, or to a person with authority over the employee or to another employee who has the authority to investigate, discover, or correct the violation.  To apply, the employee would need to have reasonable cause to believe that the information he or she is reporting discloses a violation of state or federal statute, or a violation of, or noncompliance with, a local, state, or federal rule or regulation. The bill would also prohibit an employer from retaliating against an employee for disclosing, or refusing to participate in an activity that would result in a violation of or noncompliance with a local rule or regulation.  The bill is double jointed with SB 666 and AB 263.

Save the date!

We will have our annual webinar, hosted by WPI co-chair Michael J. Lotito, with Chris Cobey, recapping the biggest new California employment laws affecting public sector employers on Tuesday, October 22.  The one-hour webinar will be from 10-11 a.m. Pacific (11-noon Mountain; noon-1 Central, 1-2 pm Eastern).  Additional details will appear here as confirmed.