Would you like to familiarize yourself with employment information pertaining to leave and other benefits? In 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed some employment and labor bills that the California legislature passed into law.

Examples of leave and benefit laws in California

Leave and benefits

SB 63

According to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), any employer with 50 employees and more will be in infringement of the law should they deny leave to a new parent. The law states that parents with newborns whether adopted, fostered or biological are entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave. However, the CFRA law is only eligible in the following cases;

– The employee must have been with the company for a minimum of one year and must have completed at least 1250 hours of work or more during that duration.
– The employee must be within a work site with over 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.

Hours and wages

SB3 – California’s minimum wages

An employer with over 25 employees must increase the wages from $10.50 to $11 per hour. The new law will see the minimum annual salaries grow from $43,680 to $ 45, 760.

Employers with 25 workers or less, will have to increase the minimum wage from $10 to $10.50 per hour increasing the minimum annual salaries from $ 41,600 to $ 43,680.

AB 1701 – Direct contractors must pay off any outstanding wages owned by subcontractors

Should any tier subcontractors fail to pay wages to claimants, the direct contractors, in this case, are liable for any debts owed. The liability will, however, exclude penalties, interest owed and will extend to:

– Fringe benefits
– Contributions
– Unpaid wages

If a contractor owes any benefits to third parties, a private action will see courts waive expert witness and attorney fees.

Immigration

AB 450

An employer shall not disclose an employee’s immigration status without a warrant unless the federal law directs the operation. The same law also pertains to access to employee records.

Employers in breach of the laws face hefty fines of $2000 to $5000 for first offenders and $ 5000 to $10000 for repeat offenders.

Hiring practices

AB 1008 – Criminal history considerations

It’s illegal for an employer to discontinue employment under inconclusive detentions and arrest that did not yield to convictions. Therefore, employers will be breaking the law by;

– Asking questions regarding any conviction histories during the application process.
– Disclose information regarding prior arrests
– Inquire about past criminal histories until the employer makes a considerable offer.

The new laws regarding leave and other benefits will provide better working conditions for every employee in California.

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After Gov. Jerry Brown assented several bills presented to him as new laws, California employers have a responsibility of having them at their fingertips lest they violate the new laws of the land. Among the several bills which are now, the law is the Immigration Bill. The bill passed by California legislators was a response to actions related to immigration by Trump’s administration. The new measures enacted relate to immigration enforcement at workplaces.

AB 450

AB 450 bars employers from granting permission to immigration law enforcers that do not have a warrant for accessing non-public places within workplaces except if they are in line with federal laws regulations. The only people that have the power to enforce this provision are California Attorney General and the Labor Commissioner.

Moreover, the new law forbids employers or any other persons acting on their behalf from willingly consenting or allowing an immigration officer to review, access or obtain any employee’s records without a judicial warrant or subpoena except if authorized by the rules and regulations of the federal law.

However, it is important to note that this does not apply to forms which have a notice for inspection or 1-9 records that deal with employment verifications. Upon receiving a notice of inspection, employers must within three days (72 hours) provide every current employee with the inspection notice.

What is a “Current Affected Employee”

Every “current affected employee,” (employees identified by the immigration agency as those that lack work authorization or those identified by the immigration office because of deficiencies in their work authorization documents.)

The notice which must relate to the affected employee should be hand-delivered by the employer at the workplace, by email or by mail if hand delivery proves to be practically impossible. Delivery should be done within 72 hours (3 days) upon receiving an immigration agency notice by the employer that provides inspection records results or 1-9 results.

Violations

In addition to that, the employment eligibility of current employees may not be re-verified by employers in a manner not stipulated by the federal law. First violations of these new provisions have civil penalties and fines that range from $2000 to $5000.

Subsequent violations will attract civil penalties and fines that range from $5000 to $10000. However, note that the new law will not restrict or prohibit an employer from complying with a memorandum of understanding which regards using E-Verify.

It is the responsibility of employers to let their employees familiarize themselves with the procedure to follow whenever they are faced with an inspection. The employer also has to make the employees know about the new prohibitions about granting willful access to immigration officials.

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