California employers would be required to pay their employees double for working on Thanksgiving or Christmas under a bill advancing at the state Capitol. The measure passed its
first committee vote Wednesday.
Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez says her bill, AB 67, is intended to help mostly hourly workers who don’t already get overtime pay on holidays through collective bargaining agreements.
“Most of these workers – let’s be clear – are forced, compelled, threatened with firing if they do not show up on these days,” Gonzalez told a legislative committee Wednesday. “If they are compelled to do so, they should be compensated fairly.”
But the California Chamber of Commerce says the bill would hurt the state’s brick-and-mortar businesses.
“It will increase those costs for doing business on those couple of days, which will put them at a competitive disadvantage with an online retailer that doesn’t have to have that same cost,” the Chamber's Jennifer Barrera testified.
The measure passed on a party-line vote; it now moves to another committee.
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