SB 725: Grocery workers.

Existing law, upon change in control of a grocery establishment, provides for, among other things, a transition employment period for eligible grocery workers by requiring a successor grocery employer to hire from a list of eligible grocery workers provided by the incumbent grocery employer and to retain those employees for 90 days, except as specified.

This bill would revise the definitions of change in control, grocery establishment, and successor grocery employer, and would add a definition for job classification for purposes of those provisions. The bill, for a successor grocery employer that, after a change in control, will own, control, or operate 20 or more grocery establishments, would require the successor grocery employer to provide an eligible grocery employee a dislocated grocery worker allowance equal to one week of pay for each full year of employment with the incumbent grocery employer if the successor grocery employer does not hire an eligible grocery worker following a change in control or does not retain an eligible grocery worker for at least 90 days following the change in control or the eligible grocery workers employment commencement date, except as specified.

Existing law specifies that parties may, by collective bargaining agreement, provide that the collective bargaining agreement supersedes the provisions described above providing for employment protections for grocery workers.

This bill would require the collective bargaining agreement to explicitly set forth the requirements that are superseded, as specified.

This bill would also exempt certain incumbent grocery employers and successor grocery employers, based upon their total nationwide employment, from all of the above-described requirements.