(a) It shall be an unfair practice for a covered employer to do any of the following:
(1) Fail or refuse to maintain and pay for continued health care or other medical coverage for an enrolled employee or their enrolled dependents, for the duration of the enrolled employee’s participation in an authorized strike, at the level and under the conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had continued to work in their position for the duration of the strike.
(2) Fail to collect and remit the employee’s contributions, if any, to this coverage.
(3) Maintain any policy purporting to authorize any action prohibited by this section or otherwise threaten an employee’s or their dependents’ continued access to health and other medical care during or as a result of the employee’s participation in a strike.
(b) Any health or other medical care premiums, contributions, or out-of-pocket expenses actually paid by the employee or their dependents as a result of the employer’s violation of this section, or because the employer failed to ensure continued coverage during a strike, shall be restored along with any other equitable adjustments necessary and proper under the circumstances to ensure that the employee and their dependents are made whole.
(c) The Public Employment Relations Board shall have jurisdiction over any violation of this chapter as an unfair practice. The powers and duties of the board described in Section 3541.3 of the Government Code shall apply, as appropriate, to this chapter.
(d) This chapter shall be construed liberally to effectuate its purposes, to protect employees’ access to health care during a labor dispute and to preserve state resources, to the fullest extent not preempted by federal law.
(e) The provisions of this chapter apply in addition to any other protections provided to employees under any memorandum of understanding or under any state or local law.
(f) The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
(g) This chapter is declaratory of, and clarifies, existing law by making some of the prohibitions and applicable remedies available under current law explicit in statute. This chapter does not limit any retaliation or discrimination protections workers may have under the law.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 740, Sec. 1. (AB 237) Effective January 1, 2022.)