OFFICE
OF
THE
GOVERNOR
OCT
O 8
2023
To
the
Members
of
the
California State Assembly:
I
am
returning Assembly
Bill
1356
without
my
signature.
This
bill
would
amend
the
California Worker Adjustment
and
Retraining
Act
(Cal/WARN) to,
among
other
things, increase
the
amount
of
notice
that
an
employer
must
provide
before
a mass layoff, termination, or
relocation
from
60
days to
75
days;
expand
the
law's
coverage
to
include
contract
workers
among
the employees
that
an
employer
must notify;
and
significantly revise the
definition
of
"covered
establishment" to
include
a single
location
or a
group
of
locations, including
any
facilities
located
in
California.
The
inclusion of
employees
of
labor
contractors, while
laudable
in
its
intent,
risks
imposing liability on client employers
who
cannot
reasonably
be
expected
to
know
whether
their actions will
cause
job
loss
for
employees
of
their
subcontractors
and
may
not
have
the
information necessary
to
provide
the
required notice.
In
addition, the bill
expands
the
definition
of
"covered
establishment" to
include
a
group
of
locations
anywhere
in
the
state
and
subjects
chain
businesses, such
as
restaurants, to
the
law's requirements
even
where
layoffs are unrelated
and
occur
in
geographically
disparate
regions
of
the
state.
It
is
not
clear
that
this
change
is
consistent with
the
purpose
of
Cal/WARN
to
protect
local
communities
and
enable
a
rapid
response
to
a
potential
shock
to
a local
economy
and
workforce.
I urge
the
author
to work with
my
Administration
to
develop
solutions
that
may
better
address
the
problem,
while fulfilling
the
objectives
of
Cal/WARN.
GOVERNOR GAVIN
NEWSOM•
SACRAMENTO,
CA
95814 • (916) 445-2841
e
