Can a CA resident deduct employee expenses not reimbursed by their employer when filing STATE return?

Yes. California did not comply with the new tax law so unreimbursed employee expense are still deductible on your state return.

California is one of the states that allows you to claim itemized deductions even if you take the standard deduction on the federal return. Therefore, you will should enter your federal Itemized Deductions even if you don't claim them on your federal return so that they will transfer over to the state return. Please view the California link below for more information.

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2018/18_540cains.pdf

The federal 1040 form doesn't allow you to enter your unreimbursed business expenses unless you qualify. My job is one that doesn't qualify but since California allows me to submit them, how do I include them in my federal form so CA can import them?

Appears that even though the Standard Deduction is taken for the federal 1040, when you click on Forms there is a Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions Worksheet which has certain fields ungrayed so one can key in Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses which would then carry over to the CA state 540.

Is there a way to enter this info in Easy Steps?  If so, where do I go to do this?

Yes, you can enter this into easy step. Here are the steps.

1. Open your return
2. Go to federal taxes
3. Deductions and credits
4. Employment Expenses
5. Job-related Expenses

Once entered, this will automatically populate in your California State return. Keep in mind, this is an itemized deduction in the State of California. The standard deduction in Ca is $5363 for Single or Married Filing Separately or $10,726 if filing jointly, Head of Household, or Qualifying Surviving Spouse.  If your itemized deductions, including employee expenses, do not reach these thresholds, you will not receive the deduction.

@cep755