Employment Laws for January 1, 2016

Ringing in the New Year means time to implement the latest California employment laws.  Here is a summary of some of the more significant ones.  For more detailed information contact Jennifer Douglas Phillips via email.

Minimum Wage: The California minimum wage increases to $10.00 per hour.  Don’t forget this also means that salaried, exempt employees must now make at least $41,600 per year (twice the minimum wage).

Piece-Rate Pay (AB 1513):  If you pay your employees by piece-rate, you must separately reflect rest and recovery periods as well as non-productive work on employees’ wage statements.  Rest and recovery periods must also be paid at an hourly rate of either the average hourly rate of the employee for the applicable workweek or minimum wage, whichever is higher.  The applicable hourly rates for everything must be reflected on the wage statement (piece-rate, rest and recovery rate, non-productive work).

Affordable Care Act Reporting:  Applicable Large Employers (“ALE”), those with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, must submit reports to the IRS by February 28 or electronically by March 31.   ALE’s must also provide tax Form 1095-C to each of their employees by January 31. More information about the ACA reporting requirements can be found here.

New Postings:  Make sure to obtain the latest posters and applicable wage orders and post them at your workplace.  If you are unsure what wage order should be posted discuss with your legal counsel or review the Labor Commissioner’s helpful publication entitled “Which Wage Order?” (A copy of it is here) You can obtain the fully compliant postings through the Cal Chamber.  Here is a link to its web store.

Seating for Employees:  This is not new, but the courts will likely issue decisions this year clarifying when employers are required to provide seats to employees.  Wage orders in California (governing nearly all employees) already contain provisions requiring employers to provide “suitable seating” to employees “when the nature of the work reasonably permits”.  There are numerous class actions pending around the state concerning this issue.  We encourage you to examine your workplace and provide seats to employees whenever possible.  If you are unsure if seating is appropriate in your workplace consult legal counsel for guidance and an examination of the potential risk in not providing seats.