Assembly Concurrent Resolution ACR 104 designates a week in July 2025 as Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week and urges communities and residents to support outdoor workers. It is a symbolic measure: it encourages local jurisdictions to run recognition events and asks Californians and organizations to provide cooling resources and advocate for better workplace safety enforcement.
The resolution references heat-related risks, climate-driven increases in extreme temperatures, and an example event in Palm Desert. Because it creates no regulatory duties or funding, its practical effect is to raise awareness and create a nonbinding platform for local initiatives and advocacy rather than imposing new legal obligations.
At a Glance
What It Does
The resolution proclaims July 14–20, 2025 as Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week, cites heat-related worker dangers and climate impacts, and urges local governments, businesses, and residents to take nonbinding supportive actions such as hosting events and providing cooling supplies. It directs the Assembly Chief Clerk to send copies to the Governor, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and the author.
Who It Affects
Outdoor workers across agriculture, construction, landscaping, utilities, emergency services, tourism, renewable energy, and related sectors are the focus. Local jurisdictions and community groups are the intended implementers of the suggested events and outreach; employers and worker advocates are named as audiences for encouragement but face no new statutory duties.
Why It Matters
As a public-recognition tool, the measure can concentrate local outreach during peak heat season and provide organizing leverage for advocates and municipalities. It does not change enforcement or funding, so its significance lies in awareness, community mobilization, and potential to catalyze voluntary employer or local-government action.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
ACR 104 is a short, ceremonial resolution that combines factual findings about workplace heat risks with a set of nonbinding calls to action. The text opens by describing who counts as "outdoor workers" and lists sectors—agriculture, construction, landscaping, energy, utilities, public safety, tourism, and more—then recounts heat-related mortality data and notes climate change as an intensifier of those risks.
That factual preface is meant to give the recognition week a policy rationale rather than standing alone as a purely symbolic proclamation.
The operative language has three practical components. First, the Legislature names a specific week in July 2025 for statewide recognition; that creates a calendar anchor local jurisdictions and organizations can use when planning outreach.
Second, the resolution encourages cities and counties to emulate local efforts—citing Palm Desert’s 2024 event—and to provide items such as water, cooling neck gaiters, and public acknowledgement. Third, it urges residents, businesses, and organizations to support outdoor workers through actions ranging from supplying cooling resources to advocating for stronger enforcement of existing safety rules and exploring technologies like wearable heat monitors.Importantly, the resolution imposes no new regulatory requirements, no funding commitments, and no penalties.
It explicitly asks the Assembly Chief Clerk to transmit the document to the Governor and to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), which signals an intent to raise visibility with the executive branch and the agency charged with workplace heat protections—but the resolution does not direct the agency to act. Practically speaking, the value of this text will depend on whether municipalities, employers, advocates, and service providers seize the week to deliver on the suggested supports and whether it is used as leverage in local campaigns or outreach efforts.
The Five Things You Need to Know
ACR 104 is a concurrent resolution (nonbinding) that names July 14–20, 2025 as Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week—it creates awareness but imposes no legal duties or funding obligations.
The resolution cites U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reporting about 390 worker deaths from environmental heat exposure between 2015 and 2023 as part of its factual justification.
It highlights the City of Palm Desert’s July 20, 2024 event as a model, specifically noting services provided there: food, water, cooling neck gaiters, and public recognition.
The text urges practical actions—providing water and cooling gear, advocating for increased workplace safety enforcement, and exploring wearable heat-monitor technologies—but frames those as voluntary recommendations.
The Chief Clerk must transmit copies of the resolution to the Governor, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), and the author for distribution; that transmission is visibility-focused rather than directive.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Findings on workforce, heat risks, and climate
The resolution’s preamble assembles factual findings: it defines the range of outdoor occupations the Legislature has in mind, details extreme summer temperatures in California deserts, cites BLS heat-death figures, and links climate change to disproportionate impacts on low-income and minority workers. Practically, these findings provide the policy rationale for recognition and create a concise evidentiary record that advocates or local leaders can cite when planning events or lobbying for resources.
Designation of Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week
This clause names July 14–20, 2025 as the recognition week. Functionally the clause establishes a common statewide date for coordinated activities; it does not create holidays, leave rights, or workplace obligations. Municipalities and organizations can use the specified dates for programming and outreach without triggering legal compliance requirements.
Encouragement to local jurisdictions to host events
The resolution encourages cities and counties to follow the Palm Desert example—hosting events that supply water, cooling gear, and public recognition. That encouragement is permissive: it signals legislative support for municipal outreach but contains no grant program or mandate, meaning local leaders must allocate their own staff time and resources if they choose to participate.
Urging residents and organizations to support worker well-being
This clause lists suggested actions for residents, businesses, and groups—providing cooling resources, advocating for enforcement, and exploring wearable heat monitors. The phrasing is hortatory; it may shape public messaging and employer behavior by establishing norms but does not create compliance standards or reporting duties for private actors.
Transmittal to Executive and agencies
The resolution directs the Assembly Chief Clerk to send copies to the Governor, Cal/OSHA (Division of Occupational Safety and Health), and the author. That administrative step is intended to notify executive and regulatory actors and to elevate the issue; it imposes no instructions on those offices and does not allocate administrative resources or require follow-up actions from the agencies that receive it.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on Employment across all five countries.
Explore Employment in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Outdoor workers in agriculture, construction, landscaping, utilities, renewable energy, tourism, and public safety — the resolution increases public awareness and may result in short-term supports (water, cooling gear, events) where local actors adopt the recommendations.
- Local governments and community organizations — they gain a legislative endorsement that legitimizes outreach events, public education campaigns, and partnerships with NGOs or businesses during the designated week.
- Worker advocates and labor organizations — the resolution provides a publicly stated statewide rationale and calendar focal point that advocates can leverage to push for stronger enforcement, funding, or local programs.
- Vendors and service providers of cooling supplies and wearable heat-monitor technologies — voluntary recommendations in the text can create demand for cooling products and monitoring solutions among employers and municipalities.
Who Bears the Cost
- Local jurisdictions that choose to host events — cities and counties must absorb staffing, logistics, and supply costs unless they secure outside funding or in-kind donations.
- Employers and trade contractors who volunteer to participate — while not legally mandated, participating employers may incur costs providing water, cooling gear, or permitting worker participation in recognition activities.
- Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and state agencies — they receive the resolution copy and may face requests for guidance or enforcement action prompted by heightened public attention, without accompanying resources.
- Nonprofits and community groups asked to organize or staff events — these organizations may be called on to expand services during the week with limited funding.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between symbolic recognition as a low-cost way to mobilize attention and the reality that awareness campaigns rarely substitute for enforceable, resourced safety measures; the resolution tries to prompt action without committing funds, legal obligations, or agency directives, leaving open whether heightened visibility will produce measurable improvements in worker safety or simply offer temporary acknowledgement.
ACR 104's principal limitation is its nonbinding nature. By design it stops short of creating enforceable protections, deadlines, funding streams, or reporting obligations; the resolution relies entirely on voluntary action by municipalities, employers, residents, and agencies.
That makes it useful as a visibility and organizing tool but weak as a direct policy mechanism for reducing heat-related illness or addressing structural risks.
A second trade-off involves implementation equity. Municipalities with greater staff capacity and budgets can seize the opportunity to host robust events, whereas smaller or resource-constrained jurisdictions may be unable to respond.
The resolution’s encouragement of wearable heat monitors raises practical and privacy questions—who pays for devices, how data are managed, whether monitoring becomes de facto surveillance rather than a safety tool—and it does not address standards for device accuracy or data protections. Finally, the resolution cites mortality statistics and regulatory requirements (e.g., water, shade, rest breaks) but does not propose changes to enforcement mechanisms; attention alone may not translate into better compliance where enforcement resources are limited.
Try it yourself.
Ask a question in plain English, or pick a topic below. Results in seconds.