On September 30, 2020, the governor signed Assembly Bill 1512 into law. (Text of the bill linked here.)
The new law, effective immediately, amends Labor Code section 226.7 (prohibiting employers from requiring employees to work during rest periods) and provides that private security officers, as defined, may be required to remain on-premises and on-call and to carry and monitor a communications device:
(f)(1) An employee employed in the security services industry as a security officer who is registered pursuant to the Private Security Services Act (Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code) and who is employed by a private patrol operator registered pursuant to that chapter, may be required to remain on the premises during rest periods and to remain on call, and carry and monitor a communication device during rest periods. If a security officer’s rest period is interrupted, the security officer shall be permitted to restart the rest period anew as soon as practicable. The security officer’s employer satisfies that rest period obligation if the security officer is then able to take an uninterrupted rest period. If on any workday a security officer is not permitted to take an uninterrupted rest period of at least 10 minutes for every four hours worked or major fraction thereof, then the security officer shall be paid one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular base hourly rate of compensation.
Importantly, under subdivision (f)(3), the new law only applies to specified security officers who are covered by a collective-bargaining agreement that expressly provides for rest periods and binding arbitration, among other things:
(3) This subdivision only applies to an employee specified in paragraph (1) if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
(A) The employee is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement.
(B) The valid collective bargaining agreement expressly provides for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of employees, and expressly provides for rest periods for those employees, final and binding arbitration of disputes concerning application of its rest period provisions, premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked, and a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than one dollar more than the state minimum wage rate.
Under new subdivision (f)(4), although going into effect immediately, the new law does not apply in cases filed before January 1, 2021.
Under subdivision (f)(5), the new law expressly abrogates the landmark case of August v. ABM Security Services, Inc., 2 Cal. 5th 257 (2016), as applied to the security services industry only. (In Augustus, the California Supreme Court held that the employer did not relieve its security-officer employees of all duties and control where the employees had to keep their communications devices on and remain alert and ready to respond during their rest periods, thereby violating the employer’s rest-period obligations.)
According to the author, part of the impetus is responding to the increased need to hire security officers during the pandemic, as many buildings are now vacant. From the August 24, 2020, Assembly Floor Analysis, linked here:
According to the Author:
"As we live through this COVID-19 pandemic, commercial properties and high rise buildings that are mostly vacant due to stay at home orders and hospitals that are overwhelmed with COVID-19 positive patients have hired security officers for additional safety reasons. These security officers often find themselves in situations that require them to work through and interrupt their breaks. AB 1512 would provide much-needed clarity for employers in the security industry on a process should they need to interrupt a security guard's rest breaks."
A sunset provision is included (subdivision (g)), automatically repealing the new law on January 1, 2027.