New California Employment Laws for 2023
Attention Californians: 2023 brings a multitude of new employment laws to prepare for.
Twenty-six new laws, some of which are industry-specific, will take effect January 1st, 2023. Changes will be happening in nine different areas, including privacy, employee leave, discrimination, pay transparency and data, COVID-19 compliance, minimum wage and salary increases, workplace safety, reimbursements, and retirement plans. Outlined below are the employment laws that businesses should be taking steps toward this month.
Privacy
2023 brings new laws around disclosure agreements, monitoring, and sharing employees’ information.
The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) will change the way employee’s personal and sensitive information is handled. Previously called the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), this law included business exemptions that will no longer be in effect beginning January, 2023. This means that businesses will need to update their CCPA disclosers to include personal information of employees, job applicants, contractors, and business contacts. In order to prepare for compliance business should perform data mapping to identify sensitive information and update their data processing agreements.
AB984 requires the CA DMV to authorize businesses to use alternatives to conventional license plates, stickers, tabs, and registration cards. Employers that monitor employees during work hours must notify the employee. AB984 prohibits retaliation for employees removing or disabling monitoring devices outside of work hours.
To Do:
☑️ Update CCPA Disclosures
☑️ Update Data Processing Agreements
Employee Leave
Bereavement leave is now required and sick leave includes the care of a designated person.
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and Paid Sick Leave Law (PSL) have been amended in the areas of sick leave and bereavement leave. Sick leave can now apply to the care of a designated person. When using paid sick leave, this designated person is limited to the care of one individual per year, but can be anyone. When using unpaid sick leave, the designated person is limited to familial relationships, one person per year. If an employee is to experience the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law, the employee is granted at least five days of unpaid bereavement leave to use consecutively or non-consecutively within a 30 day period. This applies to businesses with five or more employees and documentation of the death can be requested by employers. The reason for leave, such as the death of a family member, is considered sensitive information protected by California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).
Discrimination
New employee and applicant protections for reproduction health decisions.
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act has been amended to protect employees and applicants from discrimination based on reproductive health decisions, such as using or accessing a drug, device, product or medical service for reproductive health. The amendment includes prohibiting employers from requiring applicants and employees to disclose reproductive health information as a condition or benefit of employment or continued employment. In addition, the amendment requires health plans to cover contraceptives, vasectomies, and related services beginning January, 2024.
Pay Transparency and Data Reporting
Look out for updates regarding job posting pay scale requirements and pay data reporting.
SB 1162 requires employers with 15 or more employees to include pay scale for all job postings, including third-party postings. This law is not limited to California employees and requires employers to keep records of employees job titles and wage for the duration of their employment and three years following. Employees may request access to their information. Law violations include fines of $100-$10,000 per violation.
SB 1162 also includes requirements of private companies with 100 or more employees, not limited to California employees, to update their pay data reporting processes. Federal requirements of filing an annual EEO-1 now include reporting an annual pay data report to California Civil Rights Department as well. This data must include: “10 specified job categories based on a ‘snapshot’ that counts all individuals in each job category by race, ethnicity, and sex, who were employed during a single pay period of the employer’s choice between October 1 and December 31 of the prior calendar year.” (Troutman Pepper)
Pay data reports must now include the median and mean hourly rate per combination of race, ethnicity, and sex within each job category. SB1162 also requires employers with multiple establishments to remain responsible for a report from each establishment, but no longer responsible for a consolidated report. The deadline for pay data reports will be changed to the second Wednesday in May each calendar year.
SB1162 also changes the requirements of employers who hire independent contractors. A separate report for contractors must be filed through the CRD and cover contractors hired within the previous year. This report requires contractors to provide necessary pay data to the private employers and must include ownership names of contractors used to supply employees. Failure to file pay data reports result in a penalty of $100 per employee and $200 per employee for each subsequent failure to file.
To Do:
☑️ Include Pay Scale in Job Postings
☑️ Update Pay Data Reporting Processes
COVID-19 Compliance
Covid sick leave extended and changes have been made around exposure notices and workers’ compensation.
AB152 extends California’s COVID-19 paid sick leave through December 31, 2022. This extension does not increase the maximum amount of paid sick leave an employer must provide. Employers may require a test within 24 hours if their first return to work test after day five is still positive. Employers may refuse to provide paid sick leave if the request for a second test is not met. If the employee is using their COVID-19 paid sick leave when the extension expires, the employee may continue using it beyond the expiration date.
AB2693 allows employers to give notice of COVID-19 exposure by posting the notice in a central location rather than through individual written notice. The notice must be posted within one business day and remain for 15 days. This policy is extended to January, 2024.
This conflicts with Cal/OSHA’s current COVID-19 ETS which require individual written notice. However, this is expected to be updated within the end of the year. Businesses are encouraged to follow Cal/OSHA requirements until these are updated.
For worker compensation purposes, AB1751 extends the “rebuttal presumption” of COVID-19 being contracted in the workplace to January, 2024. This is to say that until proven otherwise, contracting COVID-19 in the workplace can be considered for workers compensation.
Minimum Wage and Salary Increases
Minimum wage increases to $15.50/hr statewide.
Beginning January, 2023 California’s minimum wage will increase to $15.50 per hour or an annual salary of $64,480 for exempt workers. This applies to all businesses, regardless of the number of employees. However, it is important to check local requirements as well as they differ from state requirements.
Workplace Safety
Personal emergencies are now protected by employment law.
SB11044 prevents employers from taking action against an employee that has to leave work or refuses to work due to an emergency condition, defined as a natural disaster, crime, or evacuation order at the workplace, home, or child’s school. “Emergency condition” excludes health pandemics
AB2068 requires that Cal/OSHA citations be posted in multiple languages and authorizes Cal/OSHA to enforce these requirements.
Retirement Plans
All California employees are now entitled to a retirement plan.
SB1126 requires that all employers offer a retirement savings beginning December 31st, 2025. This excludes sole proprietorships, self-employed individuals, and businesses that do not employ individuals other than business owners. Retirement plans can be offered through the state run CalSavers program or through private options.
Conclusion
While it is important that your policies and practices stay up to date, the state recognizes that these are challenging transitions. During these transitions, it is most important that employers show initiative in complying with the law, which you can find in more detail here.