01/10/2021
The definition of victim has been expanded to protect victims of domestic violence who need time off work.
Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2992, which amends California Code Sections 230 and 230.1 that prohibits an employer from discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, to allow the employee to take time off work to obtain or attempt to obtain legal relief to help ensure their health, safety, or welfare of the victim or victim’s child and to seek medical treatment for injuries. The existing law requires an employee, as a condition of taking time off to give the employer reasonable advance notice of the employee’s intention to take time off, unless doing so is not feasible.
AB 2992 expands existing law to include two broader categories of employees who are a “victim,” defined as:
• A victim of a crime that caused physical injury, or that caused mental injury and a threat of physical injury; and
• A person whose immediate family member is deceased as the direct result of a crime.
The employer is prohibited from taking action against an employee, when an absence occurs, if the employee provides within a reasonable time after the unscheduled absence certification to the employer meeting certain criteria, including documentation that the employee is receiving services for certain injuries, or if the documentation is from a victim advocate and undergoing treatment for specific injury or documentation that reasonably verifies that the crime or abuse occurred.
