How New Laws Impact California Employers – Are You Ready?

As we all know, with a new year comes new laws. With more than 39 million people and a diverse environment, the Golden State passes hundreds of new laws each year. Here are just five you should know about in 2018.

1) More time off for new parents or The New Parent Leave Act (SB 63). If your employer has more than 20 employees, it will be required to give you up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with your new child. Employees can use any accrued vacation time, sick time or any other paid-time off to spend time with their new child. The law, authored by State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, applies to employees who have worked for more than 12 months with their employers.

2) No questions on prior salary. Beginning on Jan. 1 you won’t have to tell a potential employer about your past salaries. Assembly Bill 168, authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, prohibits employers from asking a job applicant about his or her past salary, which also means employers cannot use one’s salary history to determine the salary it will offer to a potential employee. Supporters of the bill hope it will close the gender pay gap.

3) “Ban The Box” criminal history on applications or The Fair Chance Act (AB 1008) – Also beginning Jan. 1, employers will be banned from considering one’s criminal history until employment is offered. Nearly one-third of all adults in California have a history of criminal convictions that could compromise their chances of securing employment. In order to help these individuals avoid the common problem of being rejected for employment outright, California’s “ban the box” initiative has prohibited state and local governments from asking job candidates about their conviction histories on employment applications since 2013. The Fair Chance Act will extend ban the box requirements to most private sector employers. Authored by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty.

4) Expanded Harassment Training and Prevention (SB 396) – Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), organizations with 50 or more employees must provide sexual harassment training to all supervisors. SB 396 stipulates that this training will need to include examples of harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Organizations must also post DFEH’s poster on transgender rights.

5) Worksite Immigration Enforcement and Protections – The Immigrant Worker Protection Act (AB 450) provides workers with protection from immigration enforcement while on the job and imposes varying fines from $2,000 to $10,000 for violating its provisions. This bill also makes it unlawful for employers to reverify the employment eligibility of current employees in a time or manner not allowed by federal employment eligibility verification laws.

And, if that is not enough, according to a study released this month, California could lose 400,000 jobs if the state continues with its plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2022. The study, conducted by nonprofit Employment Policies Institute, claims that the job loss would affect the food service and retail industries the most. The study, which was conducted by David Macpherson of Trinity University and William Even of Miami University, examined the minimum wage in the Golden State since 1990. The state plans to increase the minimum wage to $11 an hour next year for companies with 26 employees or more, and $10.50 for businesses with 25 employees or less. It will eventually rise to $15 an hour in 2022 for employers with 26 or more employees. Researchers from the conservative group said “that each 10% increase in the minimum wage has led to a nearly 5% reduction in employment in industries with a higher percentage of lower-paid employees. Across all industries, their findings imply that each 10% increase in California’s minimum wage has reduced employment for affected employees by 2%.”

Researchers added that, “this estimate is conservative as it measures the impact of California’s state minimum wage but does not cover the impact of local minimum wages.”

Finally, although California begins licensing recreational marijuana sales on Jan. 1, many cities are still banning the sales including Glendale. It will also be banned in unincorporated areas of LA County, which makes up more than 65% of the county’s land and is home to 1 million people. (Information courtesy of CalChamber.)

Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce: Your source for all things local! Our mission is to actively support and enrich the community, vitality and pride of Montrose, to help preserve the historic district and small-town atmosphere, to promote economic stability and positive, productive relationships within Montrose and the surrounding communities.
Upcoming events
Montrose Old Towne Christmas continues through Dec. 23 on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Montrose Shopping Park.
2018 Annual Community Awards Recognition Dinner is on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. at Oakmont Country Club, 3100 Country Club Drive, Glendale 91208.

  melinda clarke