As you plan for the new year, here are some new employer HR requirements that take effect in 2024.
Expansion of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014-SB616
The law’s basic guidelines remain the same, the amount of leave will increase. Currently, employers are required to provide at least three days or 24 hours of PSL(Paid Sick Leave), now SB 616, increases to five days or 40 hours of paid sick leave. The bill also raises the cap employers can place on PSL accrual from six days (48 hours) to 10 days (80 hours). SB 616 also extends existing PSL procedural and anti-retaliation provisions to employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement.
Reproductive Loss Leave-SB848
Starting January 1, 2024, in addition to existing bereavement leave requirements, employers must allow employees to take up to 5 days of job-protected “reproductive loss leave” within 3 months of a “reproductive loss event” which includes:
- Failed adoption
- Failed surrogacy
- Miscarriage/Stillbirth
- Unsuccessful assisted reproduction
Leave under this new law may be provided pursuant to any applicable existing leave policies. If there is no existing policy, leave may be unpaid. Where an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, employers may cap reproductive loss leave at 20 days within a 12-month period. Employers must maintain the confidentiality of employee requests for reproductive loss leave.
Local Prosecutors Authorized to Enforce Labor Code- AB 594
Beginning January 1, this law newly authorizes public prosecutors (e.g., city and district attorneys) to prosecute civil or criminal actions for violations of the Labor Code, or to independently enforce its provisions. The law also authorizes the Labor Commissioner or public prosecutors to enforce laws regarding willful misclassification of individuals as independent contractors instead of an employee. In any action initiated by a public prosecutor or the Labor Commissioner to enforce the Labor Code, individual arbitration agreements or class action waiver agreements between employers and workers will have no effect on the prosecutor’s or the Labor Commissioner’s authority to enforce the Labor Code. Damages awarded in such actions will be distributed to workers, while civil penalties will be paid to the state’s general fund. Prevailing public prosecutors may also be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
Workplace Violence Prevention Plans- SB 553
Effective July 1, 2024, employers covered by Cal-OSHA will have several new obligations, including developing and implementing a workplace violence prevention plan (WVPP) either as a standalone document or as part of their required Injury Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP), training employees on the plan, creating workplace violence incidence logs, and various recordkeeping requirements. There are some restrictions on what employers this law applies to. The plan (WVPP) must be in writing, and it must be available and easily accessible to employees, authorized employee representatives and representatives of Cal/OSHA always. Currently, there is not a sample plan available from Cal-OSHA but they anticipate a template for employers soon.
Noncompete Agreements-AB1076 and SB699
AB1076 makes it unlawful to include a noncompete clause in an employment contract or require an employee to enter a noncompete agreement that doesn’t satisfy specified exceptions.
The bill also requires employers to notify current and former employees who were employed after January 1, 2022, and whose contracts included a noncompete that doesn’t meet one of the exceptions that the noncompete clause or agreement is void, as specified. Employees with such contracts must be notified in writing by February 14, 2024.
SB 699 adds that noncompete agreements are void regardless of where they are signed, i.e., regardless of whether the contract was signed and employment was maintained outside of California. The bill also provides employees with the right to seek injunctive action and civil penalties.
Off-Duty Cannabis Use -AB2188
AB 2188 will take effect in January, prohibiting employers from discriminating against an employee or applicant based on the person’s off-duty, off-site cannabis use. Employers may still conduct preemployment drug testing, and an employer can still refuse to hire someone based on a valid preemployment drug screening that looks only for psychoactive cannabis metabolites. The law also doesn’t permit an employee to possess, be impaired by or use cannabis on the job, and it maintains employers’ rights and obligations in keeping a drug- and alcohol-free workplace.
Prohibiting Questions Regarding Prior Use of Cannabis- SB 700
SB700 makes some additions to AB 2188, prohibiting employers from requesting information from a job applicant about their prior use of cannabis. Information about an individual’s prior cannabis use obtained from their criminal history is also off limits unless the employer is allowed to consider it under the state’s Fair Chance Act, the law that places strict limits on the review and consideration of criminal history in employment decisions.
California Expansion to Retaliation Protections- SB 497
Current law states employers cannot discriminate or retaliate against employees for engaging in certain protected activities, such as filing a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner for a wage and hour violation or serving as a whistleblower. SB497 adds to the law a rebuttable presumption in favor of an employee’s claim if an employer takes an adverse action against the employee within 90 days of the employee’s protected action. This means the law will presume that the employer retaliated against the employee if they take an adverse action within 90 days of the employee’s protected activity, shifting the burden to the employer to rebut that presumption with sufficient evidence. The bill also expands the maximum civil penalty from $10,000 per violation to $10,000 per employee for each violation for any employer found to have retaliated against a whistleblower.