Reminder: Notice of Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence Required for All California New Hires as of July 1, 2017

This is a reminder that as of July 1, 2017, California employers must provide all new hires and any current employee who so requests a written notice of rights of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

As we advised late last fall, Assembly Bill 2337 amended Labor Code Section 230.1 to require California employers to provide written notice of workplace rights for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Labor Code Section 230.1 as amended can be found here.

The Labor Commissioner has posted a form that California employers may use to satisfy these notice requirements. The form notice can be found here. If an employer elects not to use the Labor Commissioner’s form, a written notice must be provided by the employer that is substantially similar in content and clarity.

Posting of the notice is not required, nor is it sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the regulations.

The written notice may be provided electronically so long as new hires are able to access it and to print it without cost or inhibition. Alternatively, a handbook provision that includes the requisite information would also satisfy the new notice requirements, so long as the handbook is given to all employees upon “hire,” which has been interpreted to mean when an offer of employment is accepted, rather than the employee’s first day of work.

NOTE: Existing law prohibits an employer from discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking for taking time off from work for specified purposes relating to addressing the domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.