Urge Newsom to Veto Senate Bill 1044!

Senate Bill 1044 (Durazo), which would prohibit an employer, in the event of an emergency condition, from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace within the affected area because the employee feels unsafe, is headed to the governor's desk this week. 

The breadth of the bill ignores existing protections and undermines Cal/OSHA’s existing health and safety procedures. SB 1044 completely ignores the protections that these regulations already provide in making long term emergency topics – such as wildfire and heat – safer for California’s workplaces. Instead, this bill allows workers to walk away regardless of how distant it is from the workplace.

An employer who disciplines an employee for leaving the workplace would be subject to a lawsuit and penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). And any employer who replaces the worker to keep the workplace functioning or to provide time sensitive services could face a retaliation suit. In other words – SB 1044 gives such broad discretion to employees that if they walk away from a completely safe workplace, the employer could do little in response without risking litigation.