ARTICLE
Welcome to 2024. Chinese New Year 2024 marks the Year of the Dragon, more specifically, Wood Dragon, starting in February. However, through the wisdom of our legislative leaders in Sacramento, every year they pass laws that can impact every Californian in some capacity — like your paycheck, your business, and your employees. Getting ahead of the game should not wait until the Chinese New Year begins. Every year over the past decade plus, the Santa Cruz County Chamber has hosted the Employment Law Workshop with our chamber member, Hopkins & Carley law firm, coming to Santa Cruz to provide information and an in-depth review of legal developments that can and will impact employers in 2024. The workshop will be held at the Hyatt Place in Santa Cruz on Thursday, January 25, 2024 (8:30 am to 11:00 am). The registration link is here for your convenience: https://web.santacruzchamber.org/events/2024-Employment-Law-Workshop-6385/details. Here are a few changes in employment law that you might want to keep an eye on: Expanded paid sick and reproductive loss leave. Over the last decade, California has led the nation in carving out requirements that employers provide workers with a minimum amount of paid sick leave. The new law bolsters the requirements. Employees must now receive no less than 24 hours or three days of paid sick leave by the 120th calendar day of employment and no less than 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave by the 200th calendar day of employment. Under a separate law, employers must also provide up to five days of leave to employees who experience reproductive loss — whether through a miscarriage or other reproductive loss event, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination. The law does not require employers to provide paid leave, but an employee may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to them. Another law provides protections for cannabis users. Two laws going into effect on Jan. 1 aim to prevent employers from punishing workers who legally use cannabis off the clock, or from discriminating against job applicants based on prior cannabis use. AB2188, passed in 2022, makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees for their cannabis use in their personal lives. Workers can still be penalized for coming to work high. AB2188 also calls for employers to use drug tests that check for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, “the chemical compound in cannabis that can indicate impairment and cause psychoactive effects,” instead of tests that detect only inactive cannabis compounds, such as urine, blood, or hair tests. Such tests can detect marijuana use from days, weeks, and even months prior. SB700 prevents employers from asking about a prospective employee’s past cannabis use, with some exceptions. Senator Steven Bradford, the bill’s author, said the measure “promotes equity by ensuring that individuals are not discriminated against solely for their legal and recreational use of cannabis,” according to a legislative analysis. New minimum wages for healthcare and fast-food workers.Hundreds of thousands of California healthcare workers will see a significant boost in pay under a law set to increase their wages gradually, with the first bump kicking in on June 1, 2024. Here’s how it will apply to various healthcare employers: • Large health systems and dialysis clinics with 10,000 or more full-time employees will have to pay workers a minimum of $23 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $24 starting June 1, 2025; and $25 starting June 1, 2026. • Hospitals that get most of their funding from Medi-Cal and Medicare, and small rural hospitals, will have to pay workers at least $18 an hour starting June 1, 2024, with annual 3.5% raises. They will have to pay workers a minimum of $25 an hour starting in 2033. • Primary care clinics, community clinics, and urgent care clinics owned by primary care providers will have to pay employees at least $21 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $22 starting June 1, 2026; and $25 starting June 2027. • All other healthcare facilities must pay workers at least $21 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $23 starting June 1, 2026; and $25 starting June 1, 2028. Under a compromised law signed last year, fast-food workers in the state will see their minimum wage rise to $20 an hour beginning in April, and increase by up to 3.5% a year through 2029. The law implementing the pay requirements also creates a state commission that will consider improvements to fast-food employees’ working conditions. The annual Employment Law workshop can offer small business owners guidance on what to look for and how best to prepare in case a situation arises. In short, come to the workshop so you are not caught off guard with new law changes.
Welcome to 2024. Chinese New Year 2024 marks the Year of the Dragon, more specifically, Wood Dragon, starting in February. However, through the wisdom of our legislative leaders in Sacramento, every year they pass laws that can impact every Californian in some capacity — like your paycheck, your business, and your employees. Getting ahead of the game should not wait until the Chinese New Year begins.
Every year over the past decade plus, the Santa Cruz County Chamber has hosted the Employment Law Workshop with our chamber member, Hopkins & Carley law firm, coming to Santa Cruz to provide information and an in-depth review of legal developments that can and will impact employers in 2024. The workshop will be held at the Hyatt Place in Santa Cruz on Thursday, January 25, 2024 (8:30 am to 11:00 am). The registration link is here for your convenience: https://web.santacruzchamber.org/events/2024-Employment-Law-Workshop-6385/details.
Here are a few changes in employment law that you might want to keep an eye on:
Expanded paid sick and reproductive loss leave. Over the last decade, California has led the nation in carving out requirements that employers provide workers with a minimum amount of paid sick leave. The new law bolsters the requirements. Employees must now receive no less than 24 hours or three days of paid sick leave by the 120th calendar day of employment and no less than 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave by the 200th calendar day of employment. Under a separate law, employers must also provide up to five days of leave to employees who experience reproductive loss — whether through a miscarriage or other reproductive loss event, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination. The law does not require employers to provide paid leave, but an employee may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to them.
Another law provides protections for cannabis users. Two laws going into effect on Jan. 1 aim to prevent employers from punishing workers who legally use cannabis off the clock, or from discriminating against job applicants based on prior cannabis use.
AB2188, passed in 2022, makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees for their cannabis use in their personal lives. Workers can still be penalized for coming to work high.
AB2188 also calls for employers to use drug tests that check for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, “the chemical compound in cannabis that can indicate impairment and cause psychoactive effects,” instead of tests that detect only inactive cannabis compounds, such as urine, blood, or hair tests. Such tests can detect marijuana use from days, weeks, and even months prior.
SB700 prevents employers from asking about a prospective employee’s past cannabis use, with some exceptions. Senator Steven Bradford, the bill’s author, said the measure “promotes equity by ensuring that individuals are not discriminated against solely for their legal and recreational use of cannabis,” according to a legislative analysis.
New minimum wages for healthcare and fast-food workers.Hundreds of thousands of California healthcare workers will see a significant boost in pay under a law set to increase their wages gradually, with the first bump kicking in on June 1, 2024. Here’s how it will apply to various healthcare employers:
• Large health systems and dialysis clinics with 10,000 or more full-time employees will have to pay workers a minimum of $23 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $24 starting June 1, 2025; and $25 starting June 1, 2026.
• Hospitals that get most of their funding from Medi-Cal and Medicare, and small rural hospitals, will have to pay workers at least $18 an hour starting June 1, 2024, with annual 3.5% raises. They will have to pay workers a minimum of $25 an hour starting in 2033.
• Primary care clinics, community clinics, and urgent care clinics owned by primary care providers will have to pay employees at least $21 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $22 starting June 1, 2026; and $25 starting June 2027.
• All other healthcare facilities must pay workers at least $21 an hour starting June 1, 2024; $23 starting June 1, 2026; and $25 starting June 1, 2028.
Under a compromised law signed last year, fast-food workers in the state will see their minimum wage rise to $20 an hour beginning in April, and increase by up to 3.5% a year through 2029. The law implementing the pay requirements also creates a state commission that will consider improvements to fast-food employees’ working conditions.
The annual Employment Law workshop can offer small business owners guidance on what to look for and how best to prepare in case a situation arises. In short, come to the workshop so you are not caught off guard with new law changes.