(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) “Beneficiary” means an individual who is all of the following:
(A) Has been enrolled in a public assistance program for six consecutive months within the preceding budget year.
(B) Employed by the same employer for at least one quarter or three months.
(C) Is not enrolled by reason of disability or of being under 18 years of age or over 65 years of age.
(2) (A) “Employer” means an individual or type of organization that employs for wages and salary 100 or more beneficiaries to work in this state and includes all of the members of a controlled group of corporations as defined in Section 1563(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, except that “more than 50 percent” shall be substituted for “at least 80 percent” each place it appears in Section 1563(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the determination shall be made without regard to Sections 1563(a)(4) and 1563(e)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(B) “Employer” shall include the state, a city, county, city and county, district, or any other governmental employer.
(3) “Public assistance program” means the Medi-Cal program (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code).
(b) The department shall, after obtaining the information from the Employment Development Department described in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, annually transmit to the Legislature and post on the department’s Internet Web site no later than the third week of January of each year beginning in 2016, a report that includes the information described in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive. The report shall only list the 500 employers in the state with the most number of employees enrolled in a public assistance program ranked by the number of those employees. The report shall be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to Section 9795. The report shall include all of the following:
(1) The employer’s name.
(2) The employer’s address, as filed with the Employment Development Department.
(3) The number of beneficiaries each employer employs who are enrolled in a public assistance program.
(4) The percentage of the employer’s total workforce in the state that are beneficiaries.
(5) The total average cost of state and federally funded benefits provided to each identified employer’s employees who are beneficiaries calculated using the average per individual cost of state and federally funded benefits excluding administrative costs.
(6) The methodology used by the department, the Employment Development Department, the State Department of Social Services, and the State Department of Health Care Services to calculate the average total cost of state and federally funded benefits provided to an identified employer’s employees who are beneficiaries.
(c) The report described in subdivision (b) shall also include the information provided to the Employment Development Department by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Section 11026.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(d) The Employment Development Department, in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services, shall determine the total costs to the state described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) using the average per individual cost of state and federally funded benefits provided by those departments to the Employment Development Department.
(e) (1) The report, and any list provided to the department, shall not include the name or identifying information of an individual beneficiary.
(2) The report shall remain available to the public on the department’s Internet Web site for at least five years.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize an employer to discourage or prevent an employee from enrolling or continuing enrollment in a public benefit program while employed nor to discriminate against an applicant for employment or employee for applying to be or being enrolled in a public assistance program.
(g) The department and the Employment Development Department shall be permitted access to, and be provided data and information from, other state agencies as required to implement this section, to the extent not prohibited by state and federal confidentiality statutes and regulations. The department may enter into interagency agreements or adopt regulations as are reasonably necessary to implement this section.
(h) (1) An employer shall not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who enrolls in a public assistance program and shall not refuse to hire a beneficiary for reason of being enrolled in a public assistance program.
(2) An employer shall not disclose to any person or entity, unless otherwise permitted by state or federal law, that an employee receives or is applying for public benefits.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed.
(Added by Stats. 2014, Ch. 889, Sec. 2. (AB 1792) Effective January 1, 2015. Repealed as of January 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018