[co-author: Crystal Miller-O Brien]
By any measure, 2020 presented novel, life-changing experiences for all of us. The resilience and focus required to endure the seemingly relentless wave of changes have helped to hone the skills of most workplaces and allowed them to pivot and survive.
In line with our hope that 2021 will afford a bit more stability and considerable success, here are some of the significant, non-COVID-19-related legal changes applicable to California employers that human resource professionals should be preparing to manage.
Annual Pay Data Reporting to DFEH (SB 973-Effective January 1, 2121, and Compliance Completion by March 31, 2021)
On or before March 31, 2021, private employers with 100 or more employees nationwide, with at least one employee performing work in California, must submit an annual pay data report to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). The report is similar to reports employers of the same size must file with the federal Equal
2021 California Employment Law Roundup Tuesday, December 22, 2020
As 2021 is quickly approaching, employers in California are reminded to make any necessary changes to their policies due to the expansion of the California Family Rights Act and other new legislation. We have set forth below a brief summary of some of the key new laws impacting many California employers in 2021.
SB 1383 – Expansion of California Family Rights Act
The current California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”), modeled largely after the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide protected leave rights to employees with at least one year of service, who have worked at least 1,250 hours during the past 12 months, and who are employed at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. However, effective January 1, 2021, SB 1383 eliminates the requirement that employees work at a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles
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In the spirit of the season and keeping some semblance of normal we are using our annual 12 days of the holidays blog series to address new California laws and their impact on California employers. On this eighth day of the holidays, my labor and employment attorney gave to me: eight maids a-milking and AB 2257.
Deemed an emergency statute, AB 2257 went into effect immediately upon the Governor s signature on September 4, 2020. Focusing on worker classification, the bill provides additional exemptions to AB 5, which concerned the classification of independent contractors.
Last year, AB 5 went into effect and codified what is known as the ABC test a 3-part test used to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor delineated in
In November 2020, a California state appeals court ruled in
People of the State of California v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County and Cal Cartage Transportation Express, LLC that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (“FAAAA”)
does not preempt application of “ABC” test set forth in California Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) as to truck drivers. In reaching this holding, the California Court of Appeals, Second District, stated that the “ABC test is a law of general application,” and AB 5 “does not mandate the use of employees for any business or hiring entity.” The state appeals court in
Cal Cartage concluded that AB 5 does not amount to a ban of independent contractors in the trucking industry. The appeals court based this conclusion on ways in which companies can purportedly thread the needle such as the business-to-business exemption, despite the fact that, in practice, it is quite difficult for trucking companies to classify truckers as ind
The worksite’s NAICS code.
The employer will be required to continue notifying the local health department of any subsequent laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the workplace.
New Authority for OSHA
Effective January 1, 2021, and until January 1, 2023, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health will have the authority to determine whether a worksite or any part thereof exposes workers to COVID-19 such that it creates an “imminent hazard.” In response to an “imminent hazard,” it may prohibit operations at or entry to that worksite at the immediate area in which the hazard exists by posting a notice to the employer in a conspicuous place. The provision is not to be used in a manner that would interrupt the performance of critical government functions essential to ensuring public health and safety functions or the delivery of electrical power or water. However, there are no other carve-outs.