Under current law, if the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) makes a finding that an employer violated health and safety standards or regulations, Cal/OSHA can issue a citation, which the employer is required to post at or near each place where the violation occurred, or in a place readily seen by all employees. However, current law does not require the employer to post translations of these notices even if the majority of the worksite speaks a language other than English.
Assembly Bill 2068 (AB 2068) aims to close this language gap. It requires that any time a citation or special order or action is required to be posted, the employer must also post an employee notification prepared by Cal/OSHA in multiple languages. AB 2068 requires Cal/OSHA to prepare these notifications in English and the top seven non-English languages used by limited-English-proficient adults in California, as determined by the US Census Bureau’s American Community Census, as well as Punjabi (if not already included). AB 2068 allows Cal/OSHA to enforce this posting requirement by citations and civil penalties.
(AB 2068 amends Sections 6318 and 6431 of the Labor Code.)