Some of the Pending Private Sector Employment Bills in California

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California’s laws on private sector employment obviously start out as bills, which are sponsored and introduced by the men and women within the state’s Assembly and Senate. A lot of things happen when they get introduced; they either get shelved or get heard and voted amongst the committees within the legislative bodies for a certain period of time. When these bills are successfully heard and voted, what comes next is either a veto or a signature from the Office of the Governor of California.

Once signed, bills become laws and take effect on a certain date. But once they’re vetoed or denied, lawmakers either tweaked them and had them re-introduced or get shelved permanently. Such is the seemingly endless process of devising bills and legislative hearings within the California Assembly and Senate, and this year 2014 is like any other. Since the start of this year, nearly 2,000 bills have been introduced and re-introduced in both legislative bodies, many of which concern employment in the private sector.

With this in mind, it is worth mentioning some of the most notable and interesting bills that are currently pending in the California legislation. Below is a list of some of them:

•    Senate Bill 935. Last year, Assembly Bill 10 was passed which would provide an increase in the minimum wage rates in California from 2014 to 2016. Under said law, the $8.00-per-hour minimum wage would be $9.00-per-hour on July 1, 2014, and $10.00-per-hour on 2016. Interestingly, Senate Bill 935 would further increase the wage rates. Under this proposed bill, the minimum wage in California will be increased to $11.00 on and after January 1, 2015. By 2016, the rate will be at $12.00-per-hour, and by 2017, the rate will be at $13.00 per hour. It was recently amended by its principal authors and is being heard in the state’ Senate.

•    AB 1443. If passed, this would amend the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the premiere state statute that prohibits employment discrimination. Under this proposed bill, employers covered by the FEHA cannot discriminate against an individual who is selected or trained as an unpaid intern on the basis of any of the protected characteristics defined under the law. It is currently being heard in the Assembly floor, recently with the Labor and Employment Committee.

•    AB 1522. This bill proposes that a California employee working for seven or more days in a calendar year can be entitled to paid sick days. These are accumulated “at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked.” Sick days can be requested beginning on the 90th calendar day of employment, whenever an employee needs to be diagnosed or treated of his or her health condition, attend to a sick family member, or to take a day off due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Said bill is currently pending at the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.

According to a Los Angeles employment lawyer, the abovementioned bills, if passed in the near future, would create a significant impact on the landscape of private sector employment in California. But then, these bills would still undergo hearings and votes as the legislative sessions continue.

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California’s Minimum Wage Increase Met with Various Opinions

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Everyone in the State of California is waiting on the upcoming incremental increase in their state minimum wage. The passage of Administrative Bill 10 last year provided for a yearly wage increase up to 2016, wherein the current per-hour rate of $8.00 will be raised to $9.00 come July this year. On 2016, the state would raise it yet again by another dollar, which would put California’s per-hour minimum wage rate at $10.00. It was the first wage hike by the state in five years and this would potentially provide around 2.4 million Californians extra earnings.

Most labor unions and organizations in the state heavily lobbied for the bill, which was authored by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) (read more) and consequently won votes on both the Assembly and the Senate after it was finally signed by California Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown. However, not all groups are in favor of the bill, especially business organizations within the state.

In fact, the California Chamber of Commerce considered the then-bill as one of the so-called “job killers.” It argued that imposing a $2.00-increase in the minimum wage over the three-year period would cause businesses, no matter how big or small they are, to incur costs despite “other economic factors or costs that California employers are struggling with to sustain their business.” While that didn’t stop the proponents of the bill to continue its passage and the imminent $9.00-increase for this year, there are still a lot of people and groups that continue to warn of its negative implications on the California economy.

The proponents of the wage increase argue that with the additional $2.00 over the next three years, poverty can be reduced and that it would help stabilize low-skilled labor due to employers being able to save on money, especially on training and recruitment. Meanwhile, those who are against it, including the state’s Chamber of Commerce, believe that this would not only cost businesses, but also promote further unemployment. Additionally, fast food restaurants and all other similar establishments see the wage increase as having a marginal impact on the prices of the goods they’re selling.

Nevertheless, the impact of the California wage increase in both employers and workers can only be felt as the law becomes effective July this year. Meanwhile, for a Los Angeles labor lawyer, employers must still focus on providing their wage earners their minimum wage, as well as overtime and meal and rest breaks, and deal with the upcoming changes later.

Sources: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/2013/californias-minimum-wage-increase-expert-faq/

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Employers Barred From Stalking Employee’s Social Media Accounts

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, and other social networking sites have been the main past time of so many people. Through these avenues, people have been expressing their thoughts. People post their daily activities, interesting finds on the net, photos, and random rants.

Social media as an effective tool for employers
In a lot of instances employers view their workers’ social media accounts as tools of better communicating with them. Such tools would also help employers find out how their employees feel, including their rants about certain personalities at work and working for a certain company in general. In fact, a lot of employees have been sacked because of their ‘incriminating” posts online. Well, this may change soon.

Online accounts protection bill signed
Recently, California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two landmark laws: Senate Bill 1349 and Assembly Bill 1844. These are laws that bar employers from “demanding” the social media accounts and their login credentials. These newly-signed laws are set to protect employees from the use of their private social media accounts and their posts to remove them from their jobs.

What does this mean to you
Now you have the freedom to express your feelings on your social media accounts without the fear of being removed or being subjected to politics in the office. This gives an employee peace of mind when using their social networking accounts and lessens the worries one thinks about when using his social networking account.

Problems with the new laws
These may seem to be good laws since it is just plain ridiculous to force people to divulge their social media content to their employers. However the same are nothing but blunt tools that does not solve all of the problems about employees’ privacy. However, there are certain parties that claim to have seen flaws with these laws. First, the definition of “personal accounts” in these laws is said to be a bit flawed. This confusion may leave an employer what exactly is an employee’s personal account.

If your employer has been forcing you to give your log in credentials, invoke your right under these new laws. Ask a Los Angeles employment lawyer on how you can defend yourself and your privacy under this new law. A Los Angeles attorney can better interpret this new law so to be sure that you can better defend yourself and fight for your rights under this new legislation.

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What You Need to Know About the Tip Laws in California

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Tips, like minimum and overtime wages, are primary sources of income for most workers, especially those who work in restaurants, casinos, and other establishments. Tipped employees are entitled to what they receive from their customers after they provided the latter with excellent customer service. In fact, the state laws protect them from any violations that their employers may commit with regard to the tips they receive.

Sadly, not all employers recognize the existence of the tip laws in California, which is why a lot of complaints are filed against them. Basically, the primary provision dictates that no employer has the right to share the tips their employees receive. However, some employers tend to forget this basic rule, which can be found in Section 351 of the state’s Labor Code.

If you are an employee who regularly receives tips from your paying patrons, then it is best that you exercise your rights once your employer wrongfully collects tips from you and your co-workers. You may file a complaint with the appropriate agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), or you may consult a top Los Angeles employment lawyer.

Meanwhile, here are some things you need to know as a tipped employee in California:

• You are entitled to your tips and that you are still paid the minimum and overtime wages. Your employer must still pay you full minimum and overtime wages regardless of how much tips you earn. Your employer violates this provision if your employer credits the tips you receive in order to meet the requirements of the minimum wage.

• Your employer can impose a mandatory tip pooling policy. While this is so, all tips or gratuities left for an employee must be shared among employees who contributed directly to the service of the customer.

• Your manager should not share tips with your co-workers. If you have a manager or any person in-charge of hiring, firing, discipline, and supervise servers without the employer’s consent, then he or she is not required to share tips with you and your co-workers, regardless if he or she assisted in serving customers. If you work on a casino and you have a manager that does not hire, terminate, supervise, or discipline workers, then he or she can join the mandatory tip pooling.

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