The state of California has adopted significant revisions to its regulations implementing a state law prohibiting employment discrimination based on national origin. The revised regulations, which went into effect on July 1, 2018, and are similar to proposed regulations published last year, are notable in that they exceed in some significant ways the federal rules established under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
For example, the new rules take a particularly hard line on employer policies related to the use of English-only requirements and policies or practices dealing with language proficiency or an employee’s accent. The new rules also include several provisions restricting the ability of employers to consider (or even inquire about) an applicant or employee’s immigration status, unless the employer can prove federal law requires the consideration or inquiry.
The revised regulations are available here.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.