As most employers are aware, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, or sexual orientation. Governor Brown recently signed into law Assembly Bill 556, which adds “military and veteran status” to the list of categories protected from employment discrimination under FEHA. The new law provides an exemption for an inquiry by an employer regarding military or veteran status for the purpose of awarding certain veteran’s preferences permitted by law, such as those offered to Vietnam-era veterans.

The new law will become effective on January 1, 2014.