New Laws Taking Effective in 2013

There are a number of new laws going into affect in 2013 that will impact California employers. We’ve listed them below. You can find more detailed information on the CalChamber website.  Except as noted, all new laws go into effect January 1, 2013.

Religion and Reasonable Accommodation – clarifies that accommodation also covers religious dress practices and religious grooming practices.

Sex Discrimination and Breastfeeding – changes the definition of “sex” under FEHA for purpose of discrimination protections to include breastfeeding and related medical conditions.

Social Media and Personal Passwords – prohibits employers from requiring or request employees or job applicants to provide user names or passwords for personal social media accounts.

Inspection of Personnel Records – clarifies who has the right to inspect or request copies of personnel files; any deadlines for providing access to files; where and how records must be made available; an employer’s obligation to retain files; and penalties for failure to comply.

Itemized Wage Statements/Temporary Service Employers – this is effective July 1, 2013. It amends the labor code relating to itemized wage statement and wage notice requirements and requires specific information from temporary service employers.

Penalties for Wage Statement Violations – defines an “injury” for purposes of violating the itemized wage statement statute. Employers are required to provide specified information to employees on a wage statement each time wages are paid. An employee who “suffers an injury” as a result of an employer knowingly or intentionally failing to comply with the statute is entitled to recover damages against the employer.

Commission agreements – amends the written commission agreement law to exempt certain types of wage payments from the written agreement requirement.

Fixed Salaries and Overtime –states that payment of a fixed salary to a nonexempt employee will be deemed to be payment only for the employee’s regular non-overtime hours, notwithstanding any private agreement or “explicit mutual wage agreement” to the contrary.

Wage Garnishment – increases the amount of wages that are exempt from garnishment. This amendment is effective July 1, 2013.

Human Trafficking Posting – requires specified businesses to post a notice, on or before April 1, 2013, that contains information about organizations that provide services to eliminate slavery and human trafficking. The Department of Justice will make available a model of the notice.

Workers’ Compensation Reform – offsets necessary increases in permanent disability benefits and potentially lowers system costs for employers.

Accessibility Reform – limits frivolous litigation regarding technical violations concerning disability access by reducing statutory damages and putting into place provisions to prevent “stacking” of multiple claims.

FEHC Eliminated, Duties Transferred to the DFEH – eliminates the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC), changing the manner in which charges of discrimination or harassment are handled.

Intellectual Disabilities – substitutes the term “intellectual disability” for the outdated term mental retardation in many statutes and regulations.

Unemployment Insurance: Overpayment and Penalties – provides that the EDD can deny reimbursement to an employer for any overpayments made to its unemployment insurance reserve accounts if the EDD determines that  overpayment result from an employer’s failure to respond to or provide adequate information to the EDD. Applies to benefit overpayments established on or after October 22, 2013.

Prevailing Wage –  states that increased employer payment contributions that result in a lower hourly straight time or overtime wage do not constitute a violation of the applicable prevailing wage determination as long as certain specified conditions are met.

In addition, several cities and counties are increasing their minimum wages as of January 1, 2013.  Locally, San Francisco’s new minimum wage will increase to $10.55 an hour and San Jose is increasing its minimum wage to $10.00 an hour.