Mcle Article: New California Employment-related Rules, Again!
| Publication year | 2017 |
| Author | By Sabrina Green |
By Sabrina Green
(Check the end of this Article for information about how to access 1.0 self-study bias credits.)
Sabrina Green is a managing partner of Stratton & Green, ALC and focuses on labor & employment, complex business litigation and Oil & Gas law. Besides being a new member of the California State Bar Solo and Small Firm executive committee, Sabrina serves as the Attorney Coordinator for the Thomas Jefferson School of Law Employee Rights Public Clinic, member of the executive committee for the Thomas Jefferson Alumni Board of Directors, Vice President of Executive Women's Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Business Association of Southern California, San Diego. Sabrina can be reached at sgreen@sglawcorp.com.
Consistent with prior years, 2016 saw a flurry of new employment and labor legislation pass, which will apply to most California employers and take effect on January 1, 2017, unless noted otherwise. The following article is a brief summary of some of those laws that will keep you updated.
The war over minimum wage continues and California continues to lead the charge. Senate Bill 31 increases California's minimum wage on a year-by-year basis starting on January 1 of each year beginning in 2017 and continuing through 2022 (or 2023 for employers with fewer than twenty-six employees). For example, on January 1, 2017, the new minimum wage was raised to $10.50 per hour. A critical change to this bill is that it not only raises the minimum wage for hourly employees, but exempt employees must also earn no less than two-times the state minimum wage for full-time employees to maintain their status as exempt.
Finally, many counties and cities have enacted minimum wage hikes that exceed California's minimums. Employment attorneys must also check their local county and city ordinances to see if they have enacted a higher minimum wage than the state's minimum wage. For example, here in San Diego where the author practices, San Diego voters approved the Earned Sick Leave-Minimum Wage Ordinance/Program ("MWP")2 that took effect on July 11, 2016, and increased minimum wage to $10.50 at that time. On January 1, 2017, MWP increased minimum wage within the boundaries of the City of San Diego to $11.50 per hour. Many other cities throughout the state have similar laws. Therefore, make sure to do your homework before advising a client.
Under the California Equal Pay Act expansion, California legislators continued their fight to combat wage inequality. On January 1, 2017, Senate Bill ("SB") 10633 and Assembly Bill ("AB") 16764 combined to expand the existing California Equal Pay Act5 The new legislation precludes employers from paying employees of a different race or ethnicity different rates for substantially similar work and further eliminates prior salary as an exception to equal pay based on gender.
Attorneys practicing labor and employment law need to know this critical new law. Senate Bill 12416, codified as California Labor Code Section 925, holds that employees who work and reside primarily in California cannot be required to adjudicate claims outside of California. The law prohibits the use of California or another state's laws to adjudicate claims as a condition of employment, specifically arbitration agreements, but also any agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2017. There are, however, two limitations to the prohibition on forum selection clauses inside California employment agreements: (1) the employee may void only that specific provision, not the entire agreement; and (2) the statute does not apply where the employee was represented individually by counsel in negotiating the terms of the agreement.
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AB 23377 requires that employers notify employees...
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