2012 brings new laws on California employment

About two dozen state employment laws will take effect Jan. 1, according to a list published by the California Chamber of Commerce.

Some of these laws will prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of their gender expression or genetic information, require more employers to continue health coverage for mothers on pregnancy disability leave, clarify how long employees can take off work to donate organs or bone marrow, and prohibit some employers from doing credit checks on certain types of workers or job applicants.

Many of the laws are designed to protect California workers but will put additional burdens on employers at a time when the economy and job market remain weak. On the plus side for employers, a group of five laws supported by the chamber could lower their workers' compensation costs and streamline some notices and procedures.

A lawyer for the chamber, which publishes an annual rundown of new state workplace laws, says this year's list is longer than the past couple of years but shorter than some earlier years. "It's kind of in the middle," says Susan Kemp, the chamber's senior employment law counsel.

"Not every one of the new laws applies across the board to every employer, but if you take just a couple of laws that apply to most employers and add them up over the number of employees they have, it's going to create more administrative (chores) and more responsibility for the employer," she says.

2 with wide impact

The two laws that will affect the most employers, Kemp says, are:

-- AB469 requires employers to provide workers who are not exempt from overtime a notice at the time of hire that includes certain pay details including their rate of pay and whether it's hourly, salary, commission-based or otherwise; any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage including meal and lodging allowances; the regular payday; and the name, address and phone number of the employer and of the employer's workers' comp insurer.

Most employers already provide this information in various places such as pay stubs and workplace posters. Starting next year, they will have to put it all in one notice given to new employees. The California labor commissioner will provide a template, but "each notice will be unique to that employee," Kemp says.

If any information in the notice changes, the employer generally must notify each nonexempt employee, in writing, within seven calendar days. This law also increases penalties for wage violations and makes additional changes regarding collection of such penalties, including an increase in the statute of limitations, the chamber says.

-- SB299 requires all employers with five or more employees to maintain health coverage under a group health plan for an eligible female employee who takes pregnancy disability leave for up to four months. The benefits have to be at the same level as if the employee had continued working during the leave period.

If the employer splits the cost of health insurance with employees 50-50, "that's what you have to do when they are on (pregnancy disability) leave," Kemp says.

Current law requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide continued health benefits for new moms, for a maximum of 12 weeks. So the new law expands both the number of companies that must provide this coverage and the maximum length of time they must provide it.

However, increasing the maximum coverage period to four months does not mean all moms will get that much coverage. It will still be up to the mother's health care provider to determine how long she can be on pregnancy disability leave before and after the birth, Kemp says.

Challenge for employer

Stephen Hirschfeld, an attorney with Curiale Hirschfeld Kraemer who represents employers, says another new law, SB459, will pose challenges for some clients. It provides new penalties of $5,000 to $25,000 for the "willful misclassification" of employees as independent contractors.

Source: http://feeds.sfgate.com/click.phdo?i=209c2ba72291448c957965ca022d1162

mash alec baldwin kicked off plane alec baldwin kicked off plane mumia mumia uss arizona memorial uss arizona memorial