EBHR Turns Eleven!! We will proudly celebrate 11 years in business this November 11. On behalf of our team, thank you for entrusting us to serve you and your business. We look forward to continuing to serve and grow alongside you.
Be well, Sonya L. Kemp – Founder and President
State’s Minimum Wage Increasing 1/1/23 for all Employers!!!
California’s Minimum Wage will increase to $15.50 per hour for all employers, regardless of size, on 1/1/23. Minimum wage (ca.gov)
Required Employer Actions:Raise all employees to the new state minimum wage before January 1. Hire new employees at this rate or higherVerify if you have employees working in a city with its own designated minimum wage. You must comply with these wages, which exceed the state minimumCheck the pay level for all exempt (salaried) employees to ensure all are paid at least DOUBLE the minimum wage. How to check? Take an employee’s annual salary divided by 2080 (number of annual work hours) to calculate pay per hour. If the salaried employee is making less than $31 per hour times (DOUBLE the minimum wage) you are out of compliance and must raise the salaried person’s pay to at least $1240 per week or $64,480 annually. Don’t forget to update your posters!
On September 29, 2022, Governor Newson signed Assembly Bill (AB-152). This signed bill means the following:
CA 2022 SPSL is extended until 12/31/22. Originally, California Labor Code 248.6 and 248.7 required covered employees to provide CA 2022 SPSL through September 30, 2022. This is an extension, which means it is not required to add additional time to or provide a new bank of leave. The 80 hours of CA 2022 SPSL needs to be made available through December 31, 2022. As a reminder, CA 2022 SPSL only applies to private and public businesses with 26 or more employees.
CA 2022 SPSL Amendments. Employers can now require employees to take a third COVID-19 test as a condition of continuing to receive SPSL. Employees are entitled to up to 40 hours of Standard SPSL for various COVID-19-related reasons, but can also access an additional bank of up to 40 hours of Positive Test SPSL if they, or a family member, test positive for COVID-19. If the employee tests positive and is asking to use Positive Test SPSL, employers could already require that they submit to a second COVID-19 test at least five days later as a condition of continuing to receive SPSL. Now, if the second test result is also positive, employers can require a third COVID-19 test 24 hours or more after the second test. Employers can deny the employee’s request for additional SPSL if they refuse to take the test or provide documentation of the results.
Grants for small employers. Small employers that began operating before June 1, 2021, and are actively operating with a physical presence in California, and have 26 to 49 employees may be eligible for a grant of up to $50,000 for providing CA 2022 SPSL under AB 152. If the grant is approved and received, it will not count as “gross income” for state tax purposes. Employers are encouraged to consult with their tax advisor about whether they qualify for the new grant and how the new grant can affect federal taxes. To learn more, see here: https://careliefgrant.com/
New Definition of Close Contact: Effective October 14, 2022, the California Public Health Department updated the definition of close contact under the Third Revised COVID Emergency Temporary Standard, as follows: For indoor spaces of 400,000 or fewer cubic feet per floor — such as a home, clinic waiting room, or airplane —close contact is defined as sharing the same indoor airspace for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three separate 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes) while a person is infected (confirmed by a COVID-19 test or clinical diagnosis). For large indoor spaces greater than 400,000 cubic feet per floor (such as open-floor-plan offices, warehouses, large retail stores, manufacturing plants, or food processing facilities), close contact is defined as being within six feet of the infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period during the infected person’s infectious period.
Form I-9
As you know, completion of Form I-9, is required for all new hires to verify Employment Eligibility under Federal law.The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Department (USCIS) which issues Form I-9, is still developing a new version of Form I-9. Employers may continue using the current USCIS Form I-9, with an expiration date of October 31, 2022, until the new form becomes available.
NEW! California Pay Transparency Act (SB-1162) Effective 1/1/23
SB-1162 requires employers with 15 employees or more must:Include the pay range for all posted positions (internally and externally). This pay range must also be posted even when the organization uses a third party to fill open positionsProvide the pay range for an employee’s current position, upon requestMaintain a record of Employee Job Title and Pay History throughout employment. These records, for all employees, must also be maintained for a period of three years after employment ends
Bereavement Leave – Is Now Protected in CA Effective 1/1/23
AB-1949 Employees: Bereavement Leave, amends the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with five (5) days of unpaid bereavement leave. While AB 1949 amends the CFRA, Bereavement Leave is separate from other leave offered to employees for their serious illness or to care for another with a serious health condition.
Things to know:AB 1949 applies to CA-based employers with 5 or more employees nationwide.Employees who have been employed at least 30-days before the leave may take up to five (5) days of bereavement leave for the death of an eligible family member defined as: SpouseDomestic PartnerChildParentParent-in-lawSiblingGrandparentGrandchildBereavement leave is unpaid unless the employer’s existing policy provides paid bereavement leave. Employees can request paid time off (PTO), including vacation or sick leave.Employers are required to maintain the confidentiality of any employee who is making a bereavement leave requestThe bill would require the bereavement leave to be completed within three (3) months of the date of death.The bill would not apply to an employee who is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for prescribed bereavement leave and other specified working conditions. Employers may request documentation of the family member’s death such as:A published obituaryA written verification of death burialMemorial service
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) News!
AB-1041, this bill would expand the class of people for whom an employee may take leave to care for to include a designated person. The bill would define “designated person” to mean any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The bill would authorize a designated person to be identified at the time the employee requests the leave. The bill would authorize an employer to limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period. For more information, click here Bill Text – AB-1041 Employment: leave. (ca.gov).
Effective January 1, 2023, SB 1044 prohibits an employer in the event of an emergency condition, as defined, from taking or threatening adverse action against an employee who refuses to report to or leaves a workplace because the employee has a reasonable belief that the workplace is unsafe, except as specified. For more information, click here Bill Text – SB-1044 Employers: emergency condition: retaliation. (ca.gov)
Veterans Day, Friday, 11/11/22
On Friday, November 11, let’s take a moment to celebrate our Veterans and thank them for their service and sacrifices.
Questions? Contact Us!
As you and your teams digest the above upcoming law changes, we invite you to reach out to us for support on matters such as reviewing your employee handbook, updating COVID-19 protocols, scheduling and training employees on Harassment Prevention Training, or any other HR matters in preparation for the year ahead. Please feel to reach out to us at [email protected] for support.
Key November Dates
11/6 – Fall Back – Set clocks back one hour for Daylight Savings Time11/8 – Voting Day11/11 – EBHR’s 11th Anniversary11/24 – Thanksgiving – Gobble, Gobble!
EBHR Turns Eleven!!
