Today's Law As Amended


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SB-73 Employment policy: voluntary veterans’ preference.(2023-2024)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Article 3 (commencing with Section 12958) is added to Chapter 6 of Part 2.8 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

Article  3. Voluntary Veterans’ Preference Employment Policies
12958.
 This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Voluntary Veterans’ Preference Employment Policy Act.
12958.1.
 (a) It is the intent of this act that this preference will benefit veterans of all protected classes, including women and LGBTQIA persons. An employer’s adoption of a voluntary veterans’ preference employment policy is not intended to have the effect of discriminating against any veteran who is a member of any other protected classification in subdivision (a) of Section 12940.
(b) As used in this article:
(1) “DD Form 214, Member-4” means United States Department of Defense Form 214 or a similarly effective form issued by that department relating to separation from military service.
(2) “Private employer” means a business entity in the private sector of this state with one or more employees.
(3) “Veteran” means a person who has served full time in the Armed Forces in time of national emergency or state military emergency or during any expedition of the Armed Forces and who has been discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. For the purposes of this section, the term “conditions other than dishonorable” includes a discharge or release due to a violation of subdivision (b) of former Section 645 of Title 10 of the United States Code, repealed as of December 22, 2010, or policies or regulations adopted to implement that section.
(4) “Veterans’ preference employment policy” means a private employer’s voluntary preference for hiring a veteran over another qualified applicant.
12958.2.
 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a private employer may establish and maintain a written veterans’ preference employment policy, which shall be applied uniformly to hiring decisions.
(b) An employer who adopts a voluntary veterans’ preference employment policy shall annually report to the Civil Rights Department, in a manner prescribed by the department, the number of veterans hired in that reporting year under the preference policy and any demographic information about these veterans that the employer obtained in response to the department’s reporting requirements. Failure to submit a report required by this subdivision shall render any preference granted by the employer ineligible for the protections of this article.
(c) An employer with a veterans’ preference employment policy shall accept as proof of an individual’s status as a veteran if the veteran submits to the employer any of the following:
(1) A DD Form 214, Member-4.
(2) A current and valid driver’s license with the word “VETERAN” printed on its face pursuant to Section 12811 of the Vehicle Code.
(3) A current and valid identification card with the word “VETERAN” printed on its face pursuant to Section 12811 of the Vehicle Code.
(d) The granting of a veterans’ preference pursuant to this article, in and of itself, shall be deemed not to violate any local or state equal employment opportunity law or regulation, including, but not limited to, this chapter.
(e) The Department of Veterans Affairs shall assist any private employer in determining if an applicant is a veteran, to the extent permitted by law.
(f) This section shall not be construed to authorize the establishment or use of a veterans’ preference employment policy for the purpose or with the effect of unlawfully discriminating against an employment applicant on the basis of any protected classification in subdivision (a) of Section 12940.
(g) The Civil Rights Department shall report, in a manner it prescribes, by July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2028, the information provided in subdivision (b) and the number of discrimination claims received based on an employer’s veterans’ preference employment policy to the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment, the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Military and Veterans Affairs.
12958.3.
 This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.