New employment laws in California that are beginning in 2012. Is your company prepared? Here are just a few of the bills that were passed by Governor Brown.
Governor Brown decided the fate of nearly 500 bills before the October 9th deadline…many impacting employment in CA! While many of the specific details of the new laws are yet to be worked out, the status of important employment-related bills is as follows:
CA Legislation
Signed into Law by Governor Jerry Brown
§ Insurance Premiums – Pregnancy Disability Leave (SB 299) — Requires employers to maintain and pay for health insurance premiums for an employee who is on Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had continued in employment during the PDL leave. PDL is for the amount of the pregnancy-related disability, up to a maximum of 4 months.
§ “Gender Expression” (AB 887) – Includes “gender expression” under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, defined as “a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”
§ Organ and Bone Marrow Leave Clarification (SB 272) — Provides employers with clarity on these mandatory leaves, including that: 1) the one-year period referenced in the statute is 12 consecutive months from the date of the employee’s request for leave, not a calendar year, 2) the days of leave are business days, as opposed to calendar days, and 3) the benefits of an employee must be maintained at the same level during the paid leave, as if he/she had continued to work during that period.
§ Wage Notifications (AB469) — Requires an employer to provide each employee, at the time of hiring, with a notice that specifies the rate and the basis, whether hourly, salary, commission, or otherwise, of the employee’s wages and to notify each employee in writing of any changes to the information set forth in the notice within seven calendar days of the changes unless such changes are reflected on a timely wage statement or another specified writing.
§ Credit Checks (AB 22) — Limits employers’ ability to use consumer credit reports to only where the information contained in the report is “substantially job-related,” which is narrowly defined to managerial positions; employees of the city, county, or state Department of Justice; law enforcement; or a position for which a report is required by law.
§ Commissions (AB 1396) — Requires that all employers put commission agreements in writing, clearly stating the method computed and paid. Employees must sign a receipt of the commission agreement, to be retained by the employer.
§ Commission defined per the text of the law: “Commissions does not include short-term productivity bonuses such as are paid to retail clerks; and it does not include bonus and profit-sharing plans, unless there has been an offer by the employer to pay a fixed percentage of sales or profits as compensation for work to be performed.”
§ Independent Contractors (SB 459) — Imposes new penalties for the willful misclassification of someone as an independent contractor.
§ IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program: Employers that choose to voluntarily reclassify their independent contractors as employees for federal tax purposes and may be eligible to pay a fee covering a portion of their past payroll obligations and can escape certain tax liability for improper misclassification under the IRS's new Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP). Employers interested in participating in the VCSP can apply by filing Form 8952, Application for Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, at least 60 days before the employer wishes to treat the workers as employees.
§ Farm Labor Contractors Itemized Statements (AB 243) — requires that the written statement include the name and address of the legal entity that secured the employer’s services in addition to the currently required semimonthly itemized statement.
§ Minors Employed in Agricultural Packing Plants (AB1398) — extends the exception to hours now allowed for this employment in Lake County and modifies the reporting required for the same.
§ Agricultural Labor Relations Procedural Revisions (SB126) — changes and clarifies procedural matters where Unfair Labor Practices have been identified and the resulting legal review mediation or other actions.
§ Unemployment Insurance in the Motion Picture Industry (AB55) — Extends the current UI requirements for this industry beyond the original repeal dates of January 1, 2012.
§ Gender/Sexual Orientation Protection in Contracts (SB117) — Extends coverage of the current law prohibiting state entities from contracting with any organization that does not provide same health benefits coverage for a domestic partner as for a spouse to include any contractor that discriminates on the basis of the gender or sexual orientation of an employee’s spouse or partner.
You can still register for TPO ‘s 8th Annual Employment Law and Leadership in Monterey, California on January 11, 2011. http://www.tpohr.com/event
TPO can help prepare your business for the New Year and make sure your business is aware of all of the new laws, keeping your business protected.
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