With the new year comes new laws, and businesses in the San Jose area should be aware of the new California employment laws that are on the books in 2012. Ensuring compliance with these new laws is good for the bottom-line, as it will make for happy employees, who will in turn make for satisfied customers. Making sure that your business complies with the new laws put on the books each January 1st may help your company avoid employment-related litigation.
Hiring Practices
Starting in 2012, employers may no longer obtain consumer credit reports about employees and job applicants. There are exceptions to this law, particularly for positions requiring access to bank or credit card information and other personal information, positions that include access to $10,000 or more during the daily course of business, positions involving signatory authority, and management positions.
Also, at the time of hire, employers must now provide notice to new nonexempt employees of the following information: pay rate; overtime rate; form of pay (hourly, salary, commission, other); a list of allowances that are included as part of the minimum wage; name, principal address, and telephone number of the employer; and the regular pay day designated by the employer. The employer must provide written notice to employees within seven days of any changes to this information.
Finally, the penalty for willfully misclassifying employees as independent contractors is now between $5,000 and $25,000. This five-fold penalty increase underscores the importance of properly classifying new hires.
Employee Leave
All employers with five or more employees must maintain and pay for a group health plan for any eligible female employee who takes Pregnancy Disability Leave for up to a maximum of four months during a 12 month time period. These benefits must remain at the same level as though the employee had been working during the leave. These requirements extend beyond those of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
The law regarding organ and bone marrow donor leave has also been clarified for 2012. During a one year period, employees are allowed 30 days of leave for organ donation and 5 days of leave for bone marrow donation, with the law now stating that the leave days are to be calculated as business days.
Discrimination Law
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) has been amended to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees based on genetic information, including genetic tests of an employee or his or her family members, and the existence of a disease or disorder in family members of the employee. FEHA differs from a similar federal law in that FEHA applies to employers with five or more employees, while the federal law covers employers with 15 or more employees.
FEHA has also been updated to clarify that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression is prohibited. Previously, only the term gender identity was used. Gender expression is defined as, “a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.” Employee dress codes must allow employees to dress in a manner consistent with both the employee’s gender identity and gender expression.
Additionally, health care service plans and health insurance policies issued to California residents must provide equal coverage to domestic partners as that provided to spouses. While this has been the standing policy in California, the new law ensures that employers located outside California and with a majority of employees located outside of California must comply with California law as it pertains to California residents.
Wage and Hour Laws
Employees alleging violations of the minimum wage may now recover liquidated damages as a result of a complaint heard before the Labor Commissioner. Liquidated damages, which serve to punish the employer, are permitted in an amount equal to the unpaid wages owed to the employee. Put simply, for every dollar an employee is awarded in unpaid wages, the Labor Commissioner is authorized to award an additional dollar in penalties. Previously, employees could receive liquidated damages only after filing a complaint in civil court.
In the prevailing wage arena, which applies to specified state or federal public works contracts, the minimum penalty for wage violations has been raised from $10 to $40 per day for each worker paid less than the prevailing wage, and the maximum has been raised from $50 to $200.
When it comes to new year’s business resolutions, some cannot fall by the wayside. Resolving to make sure that your business is in compliance with the new California employment laws for 2012 is an easy resolution to keep, and one that will help keep your employees happy and avoid costly litigation.
The beginning of the year is a good time to do a review of your employee handbook and to update it with any changes in the law. If you need any assistance reviewing or updating your employee handbook, be sure to contact Structure Law Group, LLP at 408-441-7500.