Employment Law Update – New Year, New Laws
As we usher in a new year, the employment landscape in California is set to undergo significant changes with the implementation of several new laws touching on crucial aspects of the workplace, from drug testing to sick leave policies. The following is a list of some of the new employment laws for 2024.
AB 2188 and SB 700 – Employee Drug Use
Effective January 1, 2024, California has two laws going into effect related to cannabis use. The first is AB 2188, which prohibits employers from discriminating against a person in hiring, termination or in any other term of employment, based on: (1) an employee’s off-duty use of cannabis; or (2) an employer required drug screening test that has found “non-psychoactive” cannabis metabolites in their system.
The second new law is SB 700, which prohibits an employer from requesting information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis. Although there are exceptions for certain professions under state and federal law, generally, when an employer gathers criminal history information regarding an applicant’s prior cannabis use, SB 700 makes it unlawful for employers to use such information.
SB 553 – Workplace Violence Prevention Plans
Effective July 1, 2024, employers are required to adopt and maintain in all work areas a comprehensive workplace violence prevention plan, either as part of their injury and illness prevention programs or as a separate document. This new law also requires employers to, among other things, record every workplace violence incident in a violent incident log, provide training to employees on the workplace violence prevention plan, and maintain records related to workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, and correction.
SB 616 – Sick Leave Policy SB 616 amends California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Family Act of 2014 as follows: Paid Sick Leave Entitlement
Effective January 1, 2024, employees will be entitled to 5 days or 40 hours (whichever is greater) of paid sick leave. Previously, employees were entitled to 3 days or 24 hours.
Accrual or frontload
Employers may still allow employees to accrue paid sick leave at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. But, SB 616 modifies the employer’s alternative sick leave accrual method to require that, in addition to employees being able to accrue at least 24 hours (or 3 days) of paid sick leave by their 120th day of employment, employees must be able to accrue 40 hours (or 5 days) by their 200th day of employment. Alternatively, employers may still “frontload” their entire amount of paid sick leave on January 1, 2024.
Increased annual usage cap
Employers cannot restrict employees from using less than 40 hours per year of accrued paid sick leave.
Increased accrual cap
The cap employers can place on paid sick leave accrued hours increases from 48 hours (or 6 days) to 80 hours (or 10 days).
SB 848 – Reproductive Leave Loss for Employees
This bill allows eligible employees to take up to 5 days of unpaid leave following a “reproductive loss event”, which is defined as the day or, for a multiple-day event, the final day of a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction. The law limits the amount of reproductive loss leave to a maximum of 20 days within a 12-month period.
California employers with 5 or more employees are covered under the law. Only employees who have worked for the employer for at least 30 days are eligible for reproductive loss leave.
SB 699 & AB 1076 – Noncompete Agreement and Notice Requirements
Although previously prohibited by policy, SB 699 creates a statute expressly prohibiting employers from entering into noncompete agreements with California employees, or attempting to enforce such noncompete agreements, regardless of whether the employee executed the agreement in another state or worked in another state when executing the agreement.
AB 1076 makes it unlawful to include a noncompete clause in an employment contract, or to require an employee to enter into a noncompete agreement, unless an exception applies. AB 1076 also requires employers to provide written notice to current and former employees by February 14, 2024, stating that any post-employment noncompete clauses contained in employment agreements or any other post-employment noncompete agreements with the employer are void. This bill makes a violation of these provisions an act of unfair competition pursuant to the Unfair Competition Law. Moreover, the bill also applies to contracts where the person being restrained is not a party to the contract.
SB 365 – Arbitration Proceedings and Procedure
Effective January 1, 2024, an appeal from an order dismissing or denying an employer’s petition to compel arbitration does not automatically stay trial court proceedings.
AB 654 – COVID-19 Exposure Notification
Effective October 6, 2021, this bill amends Labor Code section 6409.6, requiring employers to give notice of a COVID-19 outbreak (3 or more laboratory confirmed cased within a 2-week period) to the local public health agency within 48 hours or one business day (whichever is later). It also expands the exemptions to this requirement, mainly for medical and care facilities.
Not a Bill, But a BIG Case – Premiums for Meal and Rest Breaks On July 15, 2021, the California Supreme Court set new rule requiring that premiums for meal, rest, and recovery break violations be paid at the regular rate of pay (as is used for overtime, sick leave pay, and nondiscretionary bonuses). Previously, employers paid those premiums at the standard hourly rate. The court specifically held that this is retroactive, meaning employers who have paid substantial amounts in premiums over the last four years may want to consider true-up payments.
Questions about what to expect in 2024?
As always, we advise you to consult with your favorite employment law attorney should you have any questions or to get a more detailed briefing on any new laws. The BMJ Employment Law Department is happy to help. We wish you a happy and successful 2024!
Baker Manock & Jensen’s Employment Law Practice Group facilitated by partner Diane Coderniz who has extensive experience representing employers, in both the public and private sector, in a broad range of employment matters, including counseling employers on day-to-day issues, and litigating cases throughout the State of California.
Disclaimer
This Legal Update / Bulletin is for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. This update should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
