Assembly Bill 1509 amends sections 98.6, 1102.5, and 6310 of the California Labor Code by extending certain retaliatory protections afforded to employees to their family members who work for the same employer. Under existing law, employers are prohibited from discharging an employee or taking an adverse action against an employee or applicant for employment because the employee or applicant has engaged in protected conduct, such as filing a written complaint with a government agency based on employment conditions. Effective January 1, 2016, such retaliatory protections will include the employee’s or applicant’s family members. AB 1509 also amends section 2810.3 of the California Labor Code, a law that prohibits the shifting of legal responsibility for certain Labor Code requirements from employers to labor contractors, to exclude client employers that are not a household goods carrier due solely to the employer’s use of a third-party households goods carrier permitted by the Public Utilities Commission.

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