Human Rights Resource Guide

The following California laws include the California Constitution, in addition to state statutes. These state laws provide various rights, protections, and/or remedies, as detailed more fully below:

California Constitution

The California Constitution sets forth key “inalienable rights,” including, but not limited to, “pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” Other state constitutional rights, include, but are not limited to, ensuring due process of law, equal protection of the laws, and freedom of religion, speech, and assembly. The California Constitution provides certain broader rights than the United States Constitution, including, for example, the right to privacy, reproductive freedom, and same sex-marriage.

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California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (“Cal/OSHA”) (Cal. Lab. Code § 6300 et seq.)

Cal/OSHA was enacted for the purpose of “assuring safe and healthful working conditions” for all California workers. This is accomplished “by authorizing the enforcement of effective standards, assisting and encouraging employers to maintain safe and healthful working conditions, and by providing for research, information, education, training, and enforcement in the field of occupational safety and health.” In California, employers, among other legal requirements, are responsible for establishing an illness and injury prevention program, providing and maintaining safe tools and equipment, warning about potential hazards, and immediately reporting to Cal/OSHA any work-related serious injuries or illnesses, or deaths.

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California Equal Pay Act (Cal. Lab. Code § 1197.5)

The California Equal Pay Act prohibits employers from paying employees different wages for substantially similar work based on sex, race, or ethnicity.

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California Victim Compensation Board (Cal. Gov’t Code § 13957 et seq.)

The California Victim Compensation Board provides reimbursement for various crime-related expenses to eligible victims who suffer physical injury or the threat of physical injury as a direct result of a violent crime, including trafficking. The Board is authorized to provide compensation equal to the loss of income that a victim incurs as a direct result of human trafficking, in an amount not to exceed the value of the victim’s labor as guaranteed under California law for up to 40 hours per week. Compensation for loss of income is not to exceed $10,000 per year for a maximum of two years. If the trafficking victim is a minor, then the Board will distribute the payment when the minor reaches 18.

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Child Labor Laws (Cal. Lab. Code § 1285 et seq.)

Sections 1285 et seq. of the California Labor Code regulate the employment of minors, including prohibited tasks and places of employment for minors under the age of 16, prohibited employment for all minors, a limitation on the hours minors are permitted to work, and a system of fines and penalties for employers who violate the law.

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Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12900 et seq.)

FEHA prohibits discrimination and harassment in employment and housing based on an individual’s race, color, ancestry, national origin (including immigration status and physical, cultural, and linguistic characteristics), religious creed, sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age (40 and over), disability (physical and mental), medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military or veteran status, and reproductive health decision-making. In the employment context, FEHA prohibits discrimination, for example, with respect to job applications, screenings, and interviews, hiring, transferring, promoting, terminating, or separating employees, working conditions, compensation, and other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. In the housing context, FEHA prohibits discrimination, for example, with respect to renting or leasing apartments, condos, or houses.

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FEHA (Human Trafficking Training) (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12950.3)

FEHA was amended to add Section 12950.3 of the California Government Code, which requires certain employers, specifically hotels or motels, to provide “at least 20 minutes of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding human trafficking awareness to each employee who is likely to interact or come into contact with victims of human trafficking.” This interactive training is required to included, but not be limited to, the “definition of human trafficking and commercial exploitation” and “[g]uidance on how to identify individuals who are most at risk of human trafficking.”

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The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 (the “Ralph Act”) (Cal. Civ. Code § 51.7)

The Ralph Act prohibits a violent act (“hate violence”) against an individual or property based on an individual’s protected characteristic, including sex/gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related health conditions), gender identity and expression, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, immigration status, political affiliation, and position in a labor dispute. Violation of the law typically involves physical contact or the threat of physical contact with the individual or property.

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The Unruh Civil Rights Act (the “Unruh Act”) (Cal. Civ. Code § 51 et seq.)

The Unruh Act provides that all persons in California are “free and equal” and are entitled to “full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind” in California and, accordingly, cannot be denied such because of their sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, and/or immigration status. Covered establishments include, but are not limited to, hotels/motels, restaurants, bars, retail establishments, theaters, and stadiums.

The following federal laws include the United States Constitution, in addition to federal statutes which are codified in the United States Code (U.S.C.). These federal laws provide various rights, protections, and/or remedies, as detailed more fully below:

United States Constitution

The United States Constitution is the supreme law of our nation, foundation of our democratic government, and sets forth fundamental and other rights, including, but not limited to, ensuring due process of law, equal protection under the laws, freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and privacy.

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Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”) (29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.)

The ADEA prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee because of age (40 or older) with respect to all terms or conditions of employment, including hiring, termination, job assignments, job advertisements, layoffs, training, and benefits. The ADEA also prohibits harassment based on age (40 or older).

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Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) (42 U.S.C. § 12112(a))

Title I of the ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability against qualified individuals with disabilities. ADA protections cover individuals who have a disability and/or a record or history of disability, in addition to individuals who are perceived as having a disability. Qualified individuals with disabilities cannot be discriminated with regard to “job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge [], [] compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.” Under Title I of the ADA, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified disabled employee or job applicant unless it would cause an undue hardship.

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Title II of the ADA (42 U.SC. § 12131 et seq.)

Title II of the ADA prohibits state/local governments from denying individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from their services, programs, or activities. Examples of such services, programs, or activities provided by state/local governments include, but are not limited to, public transportation, recreation, social services, and health care. The ADA requires that state/local governments make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities when necessary.

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Title III of the ADA (42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq.)

Title III prohibits discrimination by businesses, including non-profits, on the basis of disability with respect to the “full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodations by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.” Examples of public accommodations, include, but are not limited to, stadiums, restaurants, hotels/motels, movie theaters, and retail stores. The ADA further requires that covered entities make reasonable modifications in their policies, practices, and procedures to accommodate an individual with a disability.

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Equal Pay Act of 1963 (“EPA”) (29 U.S.C. § 206(d)25

The EPA prohibits sex-based compensation discrimination and mandates that men and women in the same workplace doing substantially equal jobs be given equal pay. Equal pay includes all forms of compensation such as salary, overtime pay, bonuses, profit sharing options, stock options, health insurance benefits, travel reimbursements, and vacation and holiday pay.

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Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as Amended (“FLSA”) (29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.)

The FLSA establishes, among other items, a national minimum wage, mandatory overtime compensation, recordkeeping requirements for employers, and restrictions on the employment of minors (children). The FLSA covers the private sector, in addition to federal, state, and local governments.

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Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“OSH Act”) (29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.)

The OSH Act establishes a regulatory framework to assure safe and healthful working conditions for employees by authorizing enforcement of health and safety standards developed under and consistent with the Act, assisting and encouraging the States in their efforts to assure safe and healthful working conditions, and providing for research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health.

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National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) (29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.)

The NLRA seeks to eliminate obstructions to the flow of commerce in the private sector by encouraging collective bargaining, workers’ rights of free association, self-organization, concerted activity, and the designation of representatives of the workers’ choice to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment on their behalf.

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Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.)

Title VII protects an employee against discrimination and/or harassment based on protected characteristics, specifically race, color, national origin (including linguistic characteristics), sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and transgender status), and religion, or based on an employee’s relationship with an individual in a protected characteristic. Under Title VII, an employer may not discriminate against on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment in recruiting, hiring, promoting, transferring, training, disciplining, discharging, assigning work, measuring performance, or providing benefits.

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Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”) (38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.)

USERRA prohibits employment discrimination based on an employee’s past, present, or future military service with respect to, for example, initial hire and employment, retention in employment, promotion, and/or any other employment benefit. The law applies to anyone who performs duties in the “uniformed services,” whether voluntarily or involuntarily. The purpose of USERRA, in part, is to “provid[e] prompt reemployment of such person upon their completion of such service.”

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Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (“TVPA”) (22 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq.)

The TVPA and its multiple reauthorizations designed to prevent individuals from becoming victims of human trafficking by providing the federal government with new tools to address human trafficking through protection, prevention, and prosecution. The federal government recognizes two primary types of human trafficking—sex trafficking and forced labor.