Labor Code § 6310

Discrimination against employee for filing complaint or otherwise exercising rights; Employer prohibited from retaliation

(a) No person shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee because the employee has done any of the following:

(1) Made any oral or written complaint to the division, other governmental agencies having statutory responsibility for or assisting the division with reference to employee safety or health, their employer, or their representative.

(2) Instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or relating to their rights or has testified or is about to testify in the proceeding or because of the exercise by the employee on behalf of themselves, or others of any rights afforded to them.

(3) Participated in an occupational health and safety committee established pursuant to Section 6401.7.

(4) Reported a work-related fatality, injury, or illness, requested access to occupational injury or illness reports and records that are made or maintained pursuant to Subchapter 1 (commencing with Section 14000) of Chapter 1 of Division 1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, or exercised any other rights protected by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 651 et seq.), except in cases where the employee alleges they have been retaliated against because they have filed or made known their intention to file a workers’ compensation claim pursuant to Section 132a, which is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.

(b) Any employee who is discharged, threatened with discharge, demoted, suspended, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment by their employer because the employee has made a bona fide oral or written complaint to the division, other governmental agencies having statutory responsibility for or assisting the division with reference to employee safety or health, their employer, or their representative, of unsafe working conditions, or work practices, in their employment or place of employment, or has participated in an employer-employee occupational health and safety committee, shall be entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits caused by the acts of the employer. Any employer who willfully refuses to rehire, promote, or otherwise restore an employee or former employee who has been determined to be eligible for rehiring or promotion by a grievance procedure, arbitration, or hearing authorized by law, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) An employer, or a person acting on behalf of the employer, shall not retaliate against an employee because the employee is a family member of a person who has, or is perceived to have, engaged in any acts protected by this section.

(d) For purposes of this section, “employer” or “a person acting on behalf of the employer” includes, but is not limited to, a client employer as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 2810.3 and an employer listed in subdivision (b) of Section 6400.

(e) Notwithstanding Section 6303 or other law, as used in this section, “employee” includes a domestic work employee, except for a person who performs household domestic service that is publicly funded, including publicly funded household domestic service provided to a recipient, client, or beneficiary with a share of cost in that service.

History

Added Stats 1973 ch 993 § 59, effective October 1, 1973. Amended Stats 1974 ch 1284 § 9; Stats 1977 ch 460 § 1; Stats 1989 ch 1369 § 3, effective October 2, 1989; Stats 2015 ch 792 § 4 (AB 1509), effective January 1, 2016; Stats 2017 ch 28 § 29 (SB 96), effective June 27, 2017; Stats 2020 ch 288 § 1 (AB 2658), effective January 1, 2021.

Labor Code 6310