A Few New Laws California Employers Should Be Aware Of…

Every year, the California legislature and the Governor provide a flurry of new laws and amendments imposing additional obligations on California employers. Notwithstanding the economic hit many businesses have felt, and continue to feel, from the pandemic, there is no relief from the onslaught of legal mandates in site. Below is an overview of just a few of the new requirements employers should be aware of:

• AB 1003 – Amends Section 487(m) of the California Penal Code to make it a crime of “grand theft” to intentionally, and unlawfully, take employee wages, including gratuities, in an amount greater than $950 for any one employee, or $2,350 “in the aggregate.” This is significant in light of the fact that grand theft is generally punishable either as a misdemeanor with imprisonment in county jail up to one year, or as a felony with imprisonment in county jail for 16-months up to 2-3 years. To be clear, the absolute need to be in compliance with California Labor Code has just been taken up a notch.
• AB 702 – Amends the California Labor Code requiring employers of warehouse distribution centers who employ over 100 at a single location, or more than 1,000 employees at multiple locations, to provide each nonexempt employee a written description of any quota requirements place on that employee. In other words, if an employee is expected to meet a certain goal each day, the notice to the employee must specific categories include goals/tasks expected of the employee, time for those tasks, and anticipated employment actions for failure to meet those goals. Such a notice must be given to all affected employees at the time of hire or for current employees, upon implementation of the law on January 1, 2022.
• AB 1033 – Amends last years SB 1383 which expanded CFRA (California Family Rights Act) leave to include businesses with as few as 5-employees to provide 12-weeks of unpaid, but job protected leave per year. Notably, AB 1033 adds parents-in-law to the group of eligible persons for which the employee may take leave under the act.
• SB 657 – Adds Section 1207 to the Labor Code and authorizes employers to distribute those same documents via email which are also required to be physically posted at the job site.
• SB 646 – Saving the more frustrating for last, this new law provides for an exception to PAGA only for janitorial employees who are working pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. In other words, if the janitorial workers unionize, the business is presumably free from the constraints and financial burden imposed by the innumerable lawsuits brought subject to the PAGA. It would seem that this “get out of jail card” thrown to unionized employees is the unfortunate impact of union lobbying to get favorable treatment in our State’s legislature.

The new laws listed above are but a few of the flurry of bills passed into law this year. To make sure you’re on the right side of the law, make sure you consult with the employer lawyers here at Poole Shaffery & Koegle, LLP.