New Laws To Possibly Take Effect in 2015

According to the Sacramento Bee, the 2014 California Legislature sent 1,074 measures to the governor’s office for signature. Governor Brown signed 930 measures which dealt with everything from driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants (AB 60) to how children in Kindergarten though 3rd grade can be disciplined (AB420).

Of importance is AB 1443 which extends discrimination protection to unpaid interns and volunteers. This amends the Fair Employment and Housing Act to include interns and volunteers as workers who are protected by the state’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination laws.

AB 1523 requires residential care facilities to maintain liability insurance for purposes of negligence or injuries sustained by residents. The bill mandates liability insurance policies cover approximately $1 million per incident and $3 million to cover injuries.

The Child Labor Protection Act of 2014 or AB 2288 strengthens child labor laws by extending the statute of limitations, increasing the civil penalty and entitling victims to receive up to three times the amount of financial losses suffered.