Employers will be prohibited from discriminating against victims of domestic violence and will be required to make reasonable accommodations in the workplace to accommodate their security needs, under a bill signed Oct. 11 by Gov. Jerry Brown.
SB 400 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will bar employers from terminating or taking adverse actions against a worker based on his or her status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
While the law will also require employers to accommodate requests such as changing a worker’s telephone extension to protect against potential harassing phone calls at work, it does not require any accommodations that would create an undue hardship on business operations.
“Victims will no longer fear losing their livelihoods and being re-victimized in the workplace because of the actions of their abusers,” Jackson said in a statement. “And we will no longer send the mistaken message to employees that silence about these issues in the workplace is the same as safety.”
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