New Set of Laws Affects Employers
Most employers know that a new state minimum wage went into effect at the beginning of the year. But many are unaware of a host of other new but more obscure regulations that are now on the books.
At a downtown Los Angeles seminar organized on Feb. 22 by Bingham McCutchen, a law firm that belongs to the California Fashion Association, lawyers spelled out some of the finer points of the new labor laws.
The new provisions range from higher minimum-wage laws and sick leave to training requirements to avoid sexual harassment.
Since Jan. 1, the new California minimum wage stands at $7.50 an hour and is set to increase to $8 an hour on Jan. 1, 2008. However, the increase doesn’t just affect hourly wage earners.
All exempt employees—those who work under a set salary and don’t qualify for overtime pay—must be paid at least twice the minimum wage to qualify for that exempt status. With the new minimum wage, exempt employees’ annual salaries must now be $32,200, up from $28,080 in 2006. Commissioned salespeople in California are also affected. Under the new law, commissioned salespeople must earn a minimum of $11.25 per hour to be classified as an exempt employee.
Other laws now in effect include:
Employers must pay their workers their total final pay when they are discharged. Employers who do not comply are subject to “waiting time” penalties of continued full wages for up to 30 workdays. A 2006 case in the California Supreme Court established that these final-pay rules apply even for shortassignment employment. In the case, a temporary employee who worked for one day but was not paid for more than two months was awarded 30 days of pay as a penalty to the slow-moving employer.
On Nov. 14, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission adopted proposed regulations for sexual harassment– prevention training in the workplace. The proposed regulations call for California companies with more than 50 employees to provide training every two years for supervisory employees working in the state. However, on Feb. 6, the Office of Administrative Law rejected the proposed regulations because of vague language describing which persons are qualified to provide training.
At a meeting on Feb. 27, the FEHC voted to adopt a revised version of the regulations with clearer language. The new document has been posted on the FEHC’s Web site for 15 days to allow for public comment. At the end of that period, the sexual harassment– prevention regulations will be resubmitted to the Office of Administrative Law for approval.
On Feb. 5, San Francisco passed a paid– sick leave ordinance requiring employers to provide any person who works within the city limits with paid sick leave. In the past, paid sick leave was an optional benefit. The ordinance covers all employees, including exempt part-time and temporary employees, people who work in the city on a day-to-day basis, and salespeople who work in the city sporadically. Under the ordinance, employers must provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked in the city. Sick-leave hours are capped at 40 hours a year for employers with less than 10 workers. The law requires employers to post a workplace notice in English, Spanish, Chinese and any other language spoken by at least 5 percent of the business’s staff. Violation of the ordinance may result in penalties of up to three times the amount of paid sick leave wrongfully denied an employee, back pay, and other fees and penalties.
—Erin Barajas
