California Employment Law

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On April 21, 2016, San Francisco became the first city to impose a mandatory paid parental leave ordinance.  Under the new law, certain covered employers must provide supplemental compensation to employees who are receiving California Paid Family Leave (PFL) for purposes of bonding with a new child.  Employers should be mindful of these new obligations, which are likely to expand to other cities and possibly the entire State of California in the future.

Under previously existing law, no California city required that employers provide paid parental leave for bonding with a new child.  Employers were only required to notify employees of their rights under the state’s PFL program.  The PFL program is a component of the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program and entitles employees who have paid into SDI to receive up to 55% of their lost wages when they must take a leave of absence to care for a child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner.  Benefits are capped at six weeks in a 12-month period, and benefits are funded entirely by the SDI program.  (Note that California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed legislation that will increase the benefits paid by the California PFL program for eligible leaves from 55% to 60% (or 70% in some cases) beginning on or after January 1, 2018.)
Continue Reading San Francisco Becomes First City to Require Employers to Fund Paid Family Leave

After a lengthy period of public comment and several revisions, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Council finally adopted amendments to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) regulations.  The amendments, which went into effect on April 1, 2016, generally reinforce existing law but also impose several new and detailed requirements for employers.

Requirements for harassment, discrimination and retaliation policy:

As of April 1, every California employer must have a harassment, discrimination, and retaliation policy that:

  1. Is in writing;
  2. Lists all current protected categories under the California FEHA (race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age for individuals over 40, military and veteran status, and sexual orientation);
  3. Specifies that employees are protected from illegal conduct from any workplace source, including third parties who are in the workplace;
  4. Creates a confidential complaint process that ensures a timely response, impartial investigation by qualified personnel, documentation and tracking, appropriate remedial actions and resolutions, and timely closure;
  5. Informs employees about several different avenues (other than to a direct supervisor) for reporting a complaint and allows employees to have direct communication with a designated company representative, such as a human resources manager or other reliable company personnel;
  6. Requires supervisors to report any complaints of misconduct to a designated company representative; and
  7. Makes clear that employees will not be exposed to retaliation as a result of making a complaint or participating in any workplace investigation.

Continue Reading New Amendments to California Fair Employment and Housing Act Now Effective

A number of significant developments in California labor and employment law occurred in 2015. This article will highlight the developments we believe are most important for California employers, including a new mandatory paid sick leave law, a substantial overhaul of the Fair Pay Act, the solidification of special meal period waivers for healthcare employees, the prohibition of certain no-hire clauses in California settlement agreements, and a few others.

California Paid Sick Leave Laws

On July 1, 2015, California became the second state in the nation (following Connecticut) to implement a mandatory paid sick leave law and the first state in the nation to require paid sick leave for all employers.  Unlike Connecticut, there is no small employer carve out.Continue Reading California Case Law 2015 Recap

From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network
From the Bass, Berry & Sims Blog Network

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