The 2011 California legislative season closed on October 9, 2011, with the Governor signing numerous bills.  We reference in our posts today, the E-Verify and the CA Dream Act Bills (separate post below).

Other Bills that were signed also affect employers and employment law, such as, bills that greatly limit the use of consumer credit reports by employers, expanding the definition of gender under state discrimination laws, requiring employers to pay for health insurance coverage during the entire period of pregnancy disability leave.

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AB 1236 “The Employment Acceleration Act of 2011,” states in part:

Except as required by federal law, or as a condition of receiving federal funds, neither the state nor a city, county, city and county, or special district shall require an employer to use an electronic employment verification system (E-Verify), including under the following circumstances:

1) As a condition of receiving a government contract.

2) As a condition of applying for or maintaining a business

license.

3)  As a penalty for violating licensing or other similar laws.

Article 2.5. Electronic Employment Verification Systems:

2813. For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Electronic employment verification system” means an employment verification system that allows employers to electronically verify workers’ employment authorization with the federal government. This includes the Basic Pilot Program, enacted by Section 404 of Public Law 104-208 and renamed in 2007 as the E-Verify Program, and other pilot programs for electronic employment eligibility confirmation. The term “electronic employment verification system” does not include the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form or any other employment eligibility systems that are required by federal law.

To cite some of the reasons itemized in the preamble of the Bill as the basis for its enactment:

(b)  Mandatory use of an electronic employment verification program would increase the costs of doing business in a difficult economic climate. The United States Chamber of Commerce estimates that the net societal cost of all federal contractors using the E-Verify Program would amount to $10 billion a year, federally.

(c) California businesses would face considerable odds in implementing such a program. Employers using the program report that staff must receive additional training that disrupts normal business operations. If E-Verify had been made mandatory for all employers in 2010, it would have cost businesses $2.7 billion, $2.6 billion of which would have been borne by the small businesses, which drive our economy.

(d) Employers report that the cost, technological demands, and staff time that an electronic employment verification system requires to use and implement come at a time when they are already struggling.

(e) California’s unemployment rate has risen to 11 percent. The state must pursue all avenues in facilitating and incubating job development and economic growth.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state maintain the intent of federal law by ensuring that private employers retain the ability to choose whether to participate in the electronic verification program.

The Bill will render defunct several city and county ordinances in California.  We link to the bill.  Should you have any questions regarding re-tooling your compliance processes and systems, please do not hesitate to contact our office:  info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com, 562 612.3996.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday granted illegal immigrants access to state financial aid at public universities and community colleges, putting California once again in the center of the nation’s immigration debate.

Under current law, undocumented students pay resident tuition rates if they have graduated from a California high school and affirmed that they are in the  process of applying to legalize their immigration status. Effective January 1, 2013, AB 131 will make this limited pool of students eligible to apply for Cal Grants and other state aid.

The legislation builds on AB 130, authored by Assemblymember Cedillo, signed into law by Governor Brown on July 25, 2011. AB 130 makes financial aid from private sources available to the same pool of students. The two laws are collectively known as the “California Dream Act.”

“After having invested 12 years in the high school education of these young men and women, who are here through no fault of their own,” Cedillo said, “it’s the smartest thing for us to do to permit these students to get scholarships and be treated like every other student.”

The California Department of Finance estimates that 2,500 students will qualify for Cal Grants as a result of AB 131, at a cost of $14.5 million. The overall Cal Grant program is funded at $1.4 billion, meaning that 1 percent of all Cal Grant funds will be potentially impacted by AB 131 when the law goes into effect.  For more:  http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17268