Governor Newsom signs and vetoes bills of interest to California ag employers

The deadline for Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto legislation passed by the Legislature in its 2025 session passed on October 13.

Governor Newsom signed AB 1362 (Kalra) on October 1.  The bill imposes on California-licensed Farm Labor Contractors using the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program a requirement to also register with the Labor Commissioner as a foreign labor contractor, despite the near-identical requirements for such registration and requirements to obtain a California FLC license.  Governor Newsom vetoed an identical bill, AB 364 (Rodriguez) in 2022.  Ag employer advocates opposed AB 1362 due to the undue burden it would place on FLCs who bring a significant share of employees to farms and ranches. 

The Governor also signed SB 642, legislation offered by soon-to-be Senate ProTem Monique Limon, which sought to clarify the definition of “pay scale” for the purpose of required disclosure in help-wanted solicitations to mean a good-faith estimate of the expected wage range an employer reasonably expects to pay for the position being offered for hire.

Governor Newsom vetoed AB 1336 (Addis), legislation that would have created a rebuttable presumption of work-relatedness for instances of heat illnesses among farm employees, but not other types of outdoor employees, including landscaping and construction workers. Governor Newsom vetoed identical legislation (SB 1299, Cortese) in 2024, on grounds that Cal/OSHA is fortifying its enforcement activities and adding staff, and noting that the Workers Compensation Appeals Board, the body to whom an agricultural employer would appeal a finding of work-relatedness, is not qualified to determine whether the employer was in compliance with the HIP standard.  Employer advocacy groups, including those representing farm employers, opposed AB 1336.

Newsom also vetoed AB 1136 (Ortega) which would have required employers of 25 or more employees to allow employees to use up to five days of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to deal with legal and administrative meetings, appointments or hearings related to immigration matters; require an employer to place an employee who has been detained or incarcerated as a result of pending immigration or deportation proceedings on an unpaid leave of absence for up to twelve months; and reinstate an employee who after incarceration or detention who provides valid documentation to the employee’s prior position or a comparable position for up to 12 months after the beginning of the leave of absence.  Employer advocates expressed concern that the timeframes related to reinstatement were too long and expressed concern that an employer’s awareness of an employee’s immigration-related detention or incarceration might create constructive knowledge of that employee’s illegal status, implicating federal immigration law. 

Legislation to create a lawyer/client-like privilege for union officials (AB 1109, Kalra), to impose an unfair fee on employers seeking to appeal Labor Commissioner citations (AB 1234, Ortega), and hampering use of AI analysis of workplace surveillance video (AB 1331, Elhawary) failed passage on the Senate.

The Legislature will return to Sacramento in early December; at that time, bills that failed in the first session can be revived, though legislators will be deeply occupied in coping with what might be a very difficult budgeting year for 2026, with many anticipating a very large state budget deficit.