Effective January 1, 2014, AB 263 amends California Labor Code §98.6 to specifically provide: (1) that written and oral complaints regarding potentially owed wages (including overtime) and providing information to, or testifying before, any public body conducting an investigation, hearing, or inquiry constitutes "protected conduct" for purposes of the prohibition on retaliation; and (2) it creates a rebuttable presumption that adverse action taken against an employee within 90 days of such protected conduct is presumed retaliatory unless the employer can prove otherwise. If an employer is found to have retaliated against an employee for engaging in "protected conduct," pursuant to Labor Code §98.7, the employer may be fined a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of this section.

AB 263 also adds §1019 to the California Labor Code, to set forth specific examples of unfair and unlawful immigration-related practices, which now include requesting any document beyond that which is required under the federal I-9 regulations; refusing to honor documents that appear genuine on their face; using the federal E-verify program to check authorization status of a person at a time, or in a manner, that is not required or authorized under E-verify, and threatening to file a false police report.