Changes California Employers Must Make By January 1, 2018 (11-7-17 Webinar Recording)

You may request access to the recorded webinar here:  Access Request Form

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law some of the most sweeping changes to California employment laws in many years.  In this complimentary 90-minute webinar, we’ll discuss changes that California employers must make by January 1, 2018.

Topics include:

• Expansion of Parental Leave to FMLA-Ineligible Employees:  California Senate Bill 63 (“New Parent Leave Act”) expands parental leave (for new child bonding) rights to FMLA-ineligible employees, including employees of employers with 20 or more employees, if the employee works at a worksite with at least 20 employees within a 75-mile radius.  The law affects employers regardless of whether they were previously covered by FMLA.  We’ll discuss updates that employers need to make to leave policies and leave notice letters.

• Ban on Prior Salary History Inquiries:  California Assembly Bill 168 prohibits employers from seeking or relying upon salary history of an employment applicant, and requires employers to provide a pay scale to an applicant upon request.  This new law followed shortly after San Francisco passed a Parity in Pay Ordinance addressing similar issues.  We’ll discuss updates that employers need to make to employment applications, what we think the pay scale document should include, and differences between the California state and San Francisco laws.

• Criminal History “Ban the Box” Law:  California Assembly Bill 1008 bans employers from including criminal history inquiries on employment applications before making a conditional offer of employment.  It also establishes strict requirements that employers must follow before rejecting an applicant based upon criminal history, including requirements to conduct individualized assessments, provide written notice to the applicant of a preliminary decision to reject the applicant with at least five days to respond, to consider the applicant’s response before making an final decision, and to provide a written notice of the final decision.  We’ll discuss updates that employers need to make to employment applications, and the notice forms that need to be set up.

• New Wage Requirements for Exempt & Non-Exempt Employees:  We’ll review new minimum pay standards for exempt and non-exempt employees taking effect in 2018 under California state law, and various City/County local laws across the state.

• San Francisco New Lactation Accomnodation Law:  San Francisco’s Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance differs from existing federal and California laws.  We’ll review those differences, the San Francisco law’s requirement to update personnel policies, and its special record keeping requirements.

• Some Changes Required Before 2018 That You Might Have Missed:  In case you may have missed any of them, we’ll discuss some of the more significant updates that California employers have been recently required to make.