Seyfarth Synopsis: Annually California enacts a number of latest rules that imply even essentially the most diligent employers want to give their handbooks and insurance policies a overview and ensure they’re up-to-the-minute with the most recent traits. Seyfarth has a couple of pointers for ensuring your guide within the New 12 months remains compliant throughout the year (or a minimum of till California complicates issues once more!).
It’s late-December, in order you’re making your New 12 months’s resolutions for 2023, updating your corporate’s guide to conform to new California rules must be on the most sensible of your checklist!
Even if there’s no proper or unsuitable time to do a guide and coverage replace, we advise doing them once a year, as California legislation frequently adjustments. With regards to the beginning of a brand new 12 months is a smart time to do a check-in, as a result of new rules normally turn out to be efficient on January 1. So let’s get you rockin’ into New 12 months’s Eve with a recreation plan on your updates for 2023!
As we addressed in our legislative replace this previous fall intimately, listed here are the brand new rules entering impact for 2023 (until in a different way famous) requiring updates to worker handbooks:
Adjustments to CFRA, Go away, and Ill Insurance policies to Come with A “Designated Individual”
The California Circle of relatives Rights Act (“CFRA”) and the California Paid Ill Go away Regulation (“PSL”) will now quilt a “designated particular person” for whom an worker might take go away, along with the members of the family coated inside of their scope beneath AB 1041.
As we blogged about intimately up to now, a chosen particular person beneath the CFRA is outlined as any person similar by means of blood or whose affiliation with the worker is the an identical of a circle of relatives courting, and contains home companions. The definition of a chosen particular person beneath the brand new PSL provisions is other and broader—it may be someone known by means of the worker. An worker can determine their designated particular person on the time they request go away or request to make use of PSL.
Below each the CFRA and PSL revisions, an employer might prohibit an worker to naming one designated particular person in line with 12-month length. And, beneath the CFRA, an employer might require the worker change any of the worker’s collected holiday go away or different collected time without work right through a go away length, or another paid or unpaid time without work negotiated with the employer.
Employers must make sure that their go away insurance policies, in poor health time insurance policies, related go away request paperwork, and handbooks are up to date accordingly.
Bereavement Go away Coverage Updates
Beginning in 2023, the CFRA calls for an employer to permit staff to take as much as 5 days of bereavement go away upon the dying of a circle of relatives member, supplied the worker has a minimum of 30 days of lively provider. Circle of relatives member is outlined as partner, kid, father or mother, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, home spouse, or parent-in-law—extra narrowly than the definitions used for CFRA go away most often or PSL, as famous above.
The times of bereavement go away don’t be taken consecutively, however an employer can require that the go away be finished inside of 3 months of the dying of the circle of relatives member. If the employer does no longer have a paid bereavement coverage, the go away is also unpaid, excluding that an worker should be allowed to make use of holiday, private go away, collected and to be had in poor health go away, or compensatory time without work this is in a different way to be had to the worker. The legislation does no longer have any prohibit on how again and again it can be used in twelve months, within the match the worker has more than one coated members of the family go away.
The legislation lets in the employer to require documentation of the dying of the circle of relatives member, which is usually a dying certificates or a printed obituary (amongst different large forms of verification), and prohibits retaliation for soliciting for bereavement go away.
Employers must revise their bereavement go away insurance policies (if they’ve written insurance policies) and handbooks to conform to those adjustments, particularly to verify they’re providing a minimum of the minimal collection of required days.
Adjustments to Attendance and Cell Instrument Use Insurance policies The place There Are Emergency Prerequisites
Below SB 1044, within the match of an emergency situation, employers would possibly not take or threaten opposed motion towards an worker for refusing to file or leaving a place of business as a result of they really feel unsafe. As well as, an worker might not be averted from the use of their cell gadgets for emergency functions.
It’s essential to notice {that a} well being pandemic isn’t thought to be an “emergency situation,” beneath this new legislation. It does come with: (1) prerequisites of crisis or excessive peril to the protection of individuals or assets on the place of business brought about by means of herbal forces or a felony act, or (2) an order to evacuate a place of business, a employee’s house, or the college of a employee’s kid because of herbal crisis or a felony act. The legislation was once designed necessarily to permit for worker protections associated with wildfires and college shootings, regardless that it’s drafted a lot more extensively than that.
This legislation calls for staff, the place possible, to inform the employer of the emergency situation. The legislation does no longer observe to first responders, crisis provider staff, staff on army bases, and staff of residential care amenities, amongst others.
The prohibition on taking or threatening opposed motion towards an worker for refusing to report back to or go away a place of business as a result of they really feel unsafe might require employers to replace their attendance insurance policies, probably making adjustments associated with self-discipline for workers who name out or go away a shift early. Additionally, the prohibition on fighting an worker from having access to their cell tool for emergency functions might require employers to revise their cell tool coverage, specifically in sure industries that can save you staff from having access to cell gadgets always right through an ongoing shift.
Reproductive Well being Now Must Be Integrated In Anti-Discrimination Insurance policies
The Contraceptive Fairness Act of 2022 amends the Honest Employment & Housing Act (“FEHA”) to incorporate reproductive well being decisionmaking as a secure magnificence, making it illegal to annoy, discriminate, or retaliate towards folks on that foundation. Reproductive well being decisionmaking, contains, however isn’t restricted to, a person’s choice to make use of or get admission to a specific drug, tool, product, or scientific provider for reproductive well being. The legislation in particular calls out utilization of start keep an eye on, contraceptives, and voluntary sterilization services and products as wanting to be secure alternatives.
Employers must overview their handbooks and insurance policies, and replace their anti-harassment, anti-discrimination, and anti-retaliation prevention insurance policies to mirror the brand new secure magnificence “reproductive well being decisionmaking” beneath the FEHA. Employers must additionally believe updating coaching fabrics in 2023 to mirror the brand new secure magnificence and come with interactive examples, as they recently do with different secure classes.
Minimal Salary Build up Way Double Take a look at Worker Wages and Exempt Worker Standing
The California minimal salary will build up to $15.50 in line with hour for all employers within the new 12 months.
This build up within the minimal salary impacts way you’ll have non-exempt staff that want raises, and it should create upstream impacts that your corporate will wish to believe giving raises to decrease stage managers as smartly.
Additionally vital for employers, with the upward push in minimal salary, the minimal annual wage requirement for time beyond regulation exempt staff additionally is going up. California legislation calls for that staff matter to the executive, skilled, or govt exemptions obtain a wage this is a minimum of two occasions the state minimal salary. As a result of the rise to the state minimal salary, efficient January 1, 2023, the minimal annual wage for workers beneath those exemptions may even build up to $64,480.
Observe that make a choice California towns within the higher Bay Space, Silicon Valley, San Diego, West Hollywood, and others will lift the minimal salary for non-exempt staff running inside of town limits. Non-exempt staff running inside of this type of towns should be paid the native minimal salary when more than the California state minimal salary.
Employers must test to ensure that they’ve up-to-date minimal salary posters of their breakrooms, and must test with payroll to make certain that all staff are making the proper minimal salary within the new 12 months, and that exempt staff are making a minimum of the statutory minimal.
Don’t Fail to remember About San Francisco’s Public Well being Emergency Go away Ordinance
This 12 months, San Francisco citizens handed Proposition G, a brand new Public Well being Emergency Go away Ordinance (PHELO), which turned into operative on October 1, 2022. As we up to now blogged about intimately, San Francisco employers with 100 or extra staff international, should supply as much as 80 hours of paid Public Well being Emergency Go away to every worker who plays paintings in San Francisco. That is along with any paid time without work, together with paid in poor health go away beneath the San Francisco Paid Ill Go away Ordinance.
Any coated San Francisco employers who’ve no longer already up to date their go away insurance policies, must revise accordingly to conform to this Ordinance.
…And the West Hollywood Paid Time Off Ordinance
As mentioned extra extensive in our prior weblog, on November 15, 2021, West Hollywood enacted an ordinance requiring employers to permit accrual of as much as 96 paid hours in line with 12 months for in poor health go away, holiday, or private necessity to full-time staff, and instituting quite a lot of different necessities. On Would possibly 16, 2022, West Hollywood amended the Ordinance, and not too long ago launched laws and administrative fabrics, equivalent to required posters in regards to the new minimal salary and the time without work parts.
West Hollywood employers who’ve no longer already up to date their insurance policies accordingly, be mindful!
Administrative center Answers
Simply because New 12 months’s is legendary for shedding a large ball doesn’t imply your corporate has to! Ahead of you get started making a song “Auld Lang Syne,” succeed in out to Seyfarth’s Handbooks and Coverage Construction Staff to start your new 12 months off proper and make sure your guide and insurance policies are in compliance with California legislation.
Edited by means of Coby Turner