June legislative brief

With summer now upon us, things are heating up in Sacramento and in the Capitol.  Progress on the meal and rest break issue has been moving forward, with CALSAGA legislative leadership and staff participating in recent discussions with representatives of organized and other interested industries.  While we have not yet come to agreement on any language, CALSAGA continues to push forward in hopes of brokering a compromise later in the legislative session.

In an effort to raise awareness and put pressure on lawmakers to come up with a solution, CALSAGA is considering organizing a public relations effort in the form of press conferences at the Capitol, editorials and opinion editorials in select newspapers, and more.

Earlier this month, we requested that members provide us with front sheet data on meal and rest break lawsuits that were filed against your company.  The purpose, among other things, is to use that data to demonstrate to the Governor and legislators the seriousness of the problem. 

In the coming days, we’ll be asking for detailed accounts of security officers who stayed on duty or responded from an on duty meal break to an emergency.  Examples of this include the catastrophic wildfires across much of Southern California last fall, the recent fire at Universal Studios, or any other story where a security officer protected the public during a legitimate crisis.

Finally, CALSAGA sponsored legislation this year (SB 1209) that set out to grant authority to the Bureau of Security & Investigative Services to establish a system and standards by which California PPOs could draw upon security officers from other states during a state of emergency in California.  The legislation would have had BSIS examine training and background standards from other states and determine which would have high enough qualifications for officers to be appropriate to draw from.     

In the course of moving the bill through the legislative process, the bill has been amended:

• Would require employers of proprietary security officers to register with the Department of Consumers Affairs (DCA).  Currently, proprietary security officers are required to register with the state and undergo a background check, and new training requirements for these officers are under development.  But that state has no oversight or even official point of contact with employers of these proprietary security officers.  The Governor asked for this authority when he signed SB 666 last year.

• The ability to draw out of state officers during an emergency has been amended to call for a joint study by BSIS and the Office of Emergency Services to determine how a state-of-emergency can increase demand for additional officers, and whether the current workforce can meet this demand without importing officer from other states. The bill would also recommend legislation if a shortage is identified to ensure an adequate number of security officers in order to protect the public and private assets.