2023 California Code › Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC › DIVISION 9 - PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES › PART 3 - AID AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE › CHAPTER 2 - California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act › ARTICLE 3.2 - Welfare-to-Work Activities › Section 11320.31.

11320.31. (a) Sanctions shall not be applied for a failure or refusal to comply with program requirements for reasons related to employment, an offer of employment, an activity, or other training for employment, including, but not limited to, the following reasons:
(1) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other training for employment discriminates on any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code, except as otherwise provided in Section 12940 of the Government Code.
(2) The employment or offer of employment exceeds the daily or weekly hours of work customary to the occupation, the recipient provides documentation to the county human services agency that the anticipated hours would be so unpredictable for that specific recipient that they would not allow the recipient to anticipate compliance with program requirements related to the job, or the recipient provides documentation to the county human services agency that the scheduled hours exhibit a pattern of unpredictability for that specific recipient that does not allow the recipient to anticipate compliance with program requirements related to the job.
(3) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other training for employment requires travel to and from the place of employment, activity, or other training and a recipient’s home that exceeds a total of two hours in round trip time, exclusive of the time necessary to transport family members to a school or place providing care, or, if walking is the only available means of transportation, the round trip is more than two miles, exclusive of the mileage necessary to accompany family members to a school or a place providing care. A recipient who fails or refuses to comply with the program requirements based on this paragraph shall be required to participate in community service activities pursuant to Section 11322.9.
(4) The employment, offer of employment, activity, or other training for employment involves conditions that are in violation of applicable health and safety standards.
(5) The employment, offer of employment, or work activity does not provide for workers’ compensation insurance.
(6) Accepting the employment or work activity would cause an interruption in an approved education or job training program in progress that would otherwise lead to employment and sufficient income to be self-supporting, excluding work experience or community service employment as described in subdivisions (d) and (j) of Section 11322.6 and Section 11322.9 or other community work experience assignments, except that a recipient may be required to engage in welfare-to-work activities to the extent necessary to meet the hours of participation required by Section 11322.8.
(7) Accepting the employment, offer of employment, or work activity would cause the recipient to violate the terms of the recipient’s union membership.
(8) The recipient states that the employment or offer of employment fails to comply with the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 245) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Labor Code).
(9) The recipient states that the recipient experienced sexual harassment or other abusive conduct at the workplace. For purposes of this section, “abusive conduct” has the same meaning as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 12950.1 of the Government Code.
(10) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2011 were violated.
(11) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 1450) of Division 2 of the Labor Code) were violated.
(12) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the CROWN Act (Section 212.1 of the Education Code and subdivisions (w) and (x) of Section 12926 of the Government Code) were violated.
(13) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the California Family Rights Act (Section 12945.2 of the Government Code) were violated.
(14) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Garment Worker Protection Act were violated (Sections 1174.1, 2670, 2671, 2673, 2673.1, 2673.2, and 2675.5 of the Labor Code) were violated.
(15) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Fair Chance Act (Section 12952 of the Government Code) or Section 432.7 of the Labor Code were violated.
(16) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Gender Nondiscrimination Act as contained in Sections 12926, 12940, 12949, and 12955 of the Government Code, were violated.
(17) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under Section 432.6 of the Labor Code were violated.
(18) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under Section 230 or 230.1 of the Labor Code were violated.
(19) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under the Family-School Partnership Act (Section 230.8 of the Labor Code) were violated.
(20) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights to lactation accommodations were violated under Section 1031, 1032, 1033, or 1034 of the Labor Code.
(21) The recipient states that the recipient’s rights under any federal, state, or local labor or employment law were violated.
(22) The recipient requires pregnancy- or parenting-related accommodations covered under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.), or Section 66252, 66271.9, or 66281.7 of the Education Code, including, but not limited to, excused absences to attend child medical appointments, and has not received adequate accommodations.
(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), verification of the recipient’s statement is not required. The recipient need not reference any specific law in stating that their rights were violated.
(c) Relief from a program sanction provided pursuant to this section shall last no longer than three months from the first date of the failure or refusal to comply with program requirements.
(d) (1) If an applicant or recipient reports refusing any offer of employment, reducing hours, voluntarily quitting any employment, or being discharged from any employment, the county human services agency shall provide the applicant or recipient with information regarding workplace rights generally, including information about how to file complaints with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Civil Rights Department. The State Department of Social Services shall convene a stakeholder workgroup to develop instructions for county human services agencies on how to best inform applicants and recipients of their workplace rights and available remedies, and how to document an applicant’s or recipient’s statement of circumstances as required by this section. The stakeholder workgroup may be convened concurrently with an existing department stakeholder meeting. The stakeholder workgroup shall include, but is not limited to, representatives of organizations representing all of the following: County Welfare Directors Association of California, CalWORKs recipients, workers’ rights advocates, CalWORKs advocates, social workers, and any relevant state, county, or city government agencies. A county human services agency shall follow the instructions developed by the stakeholder workgroup.
(2) The State Department of Social Services, along with the stakeholder workgroup, shall also develop instructions for county human services agencies on how best to issue an updated guidance to applicants and recipients of applicable rights under the California Family Rights Act (Section 12945.2 of the Government Code) and other new rights under federal, state, or local laws.
(e) County human services agencies shall not be required or expected to provide any legal advice to recipients. Any information or materials provided to a recipient regarding workplace rights, including those developed and provided pursuant to subdivision (d), is not intended to be legal advice.
(f) This section shall become operative on October 1, 2024, or when the State Department of Social Services notifies the Legislature that the Statewide Automated Welfare System (SAWS) can perform the necessary automation to implement this section, whichever is later.
(Amended (as added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 588, Sec. 4) by Stats. 2023, Ch. 615, Sec. 4. (SB 521) Effective January 1, 2024.)