New Employment Laws for 2020
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Of the 2,625 bills introduced in the Legislature this year, 1,042 bills reached Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. He signed 870 and vetoed 172 — and many of those signed will affect California employers. Some bills made significant changes to California employment law, such as the much-publicized independent contractor bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 5, which codifies the "ABC test" that's used to distinguish employees from independent contractors under the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders and extends its application to the Labor and Unemployment Insurance Codes. Others made small but important changes of which employers must be aware, such as those changing the mandatory harassment prevention training deadlines.
The governor also vetoed several CalChamber-opposed bills, including AB 589, which would have created overly burdensome requirements for employers to post and provide employees with a "Worker’s Bill of Rights,” among other things. The governor also vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 218, which would have amended the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to allow local governments in Los Angeles County to enact their own anti-discrimination ordinances similar to the FEHA, creating uncertainty, inconsistency and confusion regarding the FEHA’s application and interpretation.
In addition, new laws extend the statute of limitations for filing a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing for discrimination, harassment and retaliation from one year to three years; a lactation accommodation bill expands requirements related to location and amenities; and several bills affect agreements between employers and employees, particularly arbitration agreements — and there's much, much more.
Remember that the state minimum wage will also increase on January 1, to $12 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees and to $13 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees.
In addition to state laws, California businesses will also need to pay attention to local ordinances and upcoming changes for January 1.
