 January 2008 – Volume 6, Number 1 |
Know Which New Employment Laws Affect You in 2008 |
Congress and the California Legislature have not enacted any ground breaking employment laws for 2008, but it is important to be aware of changes which have occurred. The following is a summary of the new legislation: A. WAGE AND HOUR 2. Computer Professional Exemption: Labor Code Section 515.5 has been amended to decrease the minimum hourly rate for employees classified under the Computer Professional Exemption. The hourly rate has been reduced from $49.77 to $36.00 per hour. To qualify for the exemption, the computer professional must meet the strict "duties" test specified in the statute and be paid at the required rate for all hours of work. 3. Pharmacist Alternative Workweek Schedule: Pharmacists who work in the mercantile industry under Wage Order No. 7 are now allowed to adopt an alternative workweek schedule similar to that permitted by Wage Order No. 4. Under Labor Code Section 1186.5, pharmacists will be permitted to adopt an alternative workweek schedule without the restrictions of two consecutive days off as required by Wage Order No. 7. B. EMPLOYEE LEAVE The employee must give his or her employer at least two business days' notice of the requested leave and provide written documentation to certify that the spouse or domestic partner is on deployment leave. The law does not specify whether employers can exercise discretion in scheduling an employee's leave. Therefore, employers should err on the side of caution and provide flexibility to those requesting the leave. 2. San Francisco Paid Sick Leave: Last year, San Francisco implemented its own sick leave regulations. This year, San Francisco enacted the Health Security Ordinance which requires, among other things, employers to provide sick leave to each employee who performs work in San Francisco, including all temporary and part-time employees. However, the ordinance has been challenged in court. If you have employees working in San Francisco, contact legal counsel to discuss your obligations under the ordinance. C. DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS 2. Required Notice to Employees Regarding Earned Income Tax Credit: Newly enacted Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 19850-19854 require employers with employees covered under the California Unemployment Insurance Code to provide such employees with notice of their possible eligibility to take advantage of the Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. In other words, the notice is to be sent to those employees for whom an employer pays California unemployment taxes on their wages. The notice is to be either hand-delivered or mailed within one week of the date the annual wage summary (IRS Form W-2) is sent to employees. Since multi-state employers are required to only pay unemployment taxes in one state, the statutory definition should preclude sending notices to employees who are "based," for unemployment insurance tax purposes, in other states. However, an employee who is on the California payroll for any part of the year, apparently must be sent the notice even if the employee has relocated outside the state at the time the notice is to be sent. WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:
3. New Form I-9: The U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services announced employers must implement and use a new form I-9 no later than December 26, 2007. The new form reduces the number of documents employees can use to establish their identity and eligibility for work. The revised form I-9 is mandatory for all new hires and all employee re-verifications. The requirement is not retroactive, meaning employers are not obligated to use the revised materials for current employees with properly completed forms. The new forms are available to download at www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf. 4. New EEOC-1 Form: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires all private employers with at least 100 employees, or employers who are federal contractors with at least 50 employees and contracts of at least $50,000 to file an annual electronic EEO-1 report, due by September 30 of each year. New requirements to the EEO-1 form became effective in September 2007 and revised categories of race and ethnicity, as well as new levels of job categories based on responsibility. Employers should have implemented the new EEO-1 form for their September 30, 2007 report, but they are not required to resurvey current employees using the new criteria until submission of their September 30, 2008, EEO-1 report. D. MISCELLANEOUS 2. Health Care and Whistleblower Protection: Assembly Bill 632 prohibits a health facility from discriminating or retaliating against any patient, employee, a member of the facility's medical staff, or any other healthcare worker of the facility because that person has (i) presented a grievance, complaint or report to an entity or agency responsible for accrediting or evaluating the facility or to any other governmental agency; or (ii) has initiated, participated or cooperated in an investigation or administrative proceeding related to the quality of care, services or conditions at the facility.
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