Employment: immigration and work authorization.

Assembly Member Ortega, together with principal coauthors Gipson and Durazo and coauthors Becker, Caballero, and Gonzalez, proposes a time-limited set of employment protections tied to immigration status that would add a new chapter to California’s labor framework. The measure applies to both public and private employers, with an exemption for those employing 25 or fewer workers, and it becomes operative through July 1, 2029 before being repealed on January 1, 2030. The authors frame these provisions as a targeted response to work-authorization issues within the existing framework of anti-discrimination and employment laws.

The core changes establish new entitlements and procedures related to work authorization. Employees may take up to five unpaid working days within a rolling 12-month period to attend immigration-related appointments, interviews, adjudications, legal proceedings, detainment, or other required meetings, with employers allowed to require the use of earned vacation or paid time off before using the unpaid leave. If a postintroductory employee loses employment due to an inability to provide proper work authorization, they must be reinstated to their former classification within 12 months upon obtaining work authorization, provided they produce documentation; if no such position is available, employers must offer all positions that become available within 12 months for which the employee is qualified, with a preference to the employee with the greatest length of service and retention of prior pay and seniority. If more time is needed, the employee may be rehired into the next available opening as a new hire without retaining prior seniority for up to another 12 months, subject to an introductory period. For employees detained or incarcerated in relation to immigration proceedings, employers must place them on unpaid leave for up to 12 months, after which, upon release and provision of appropriate work authorization, the employee may be returned to the former classification or offered available positions with the same seniority and pay protections; benefits do not accrue during such leaves.

In addition to these leave and reinstatement provisions, the measure prohibits discipline, discharge, or discrimination based on national origin, immigration status, or the fact that an employee is subject to immigration or deportation proceedings, so long as the employee is authorized to work in the United States. The bill preserves collective bargaining agreement or memorandum of understanding provisions that address rehiring, reinstatement, or leave rights for employees subject to immigration proceedings and does not supersede seniority provisions in those agreements. Enforcement of the new framework is assigned to the Labor Commissioner, with interaction to existing FEHA enforcement and procedures not specified in the text. The measure defines “postintroductory employee” and “public employer” for purposes of its provisions and provides severability, along with an explicit sunset and repeal timeline.