The California State Legislature adjourned on August 31, 2022. Following the adjournment, several bills with significant implications for employers were presented to Governor Newsom for signature or veto by September 30, 2022. Governor Newsom signed multiple bills, now laws, that California employers need to be aware of going into the new year. Below is a brief overview of the most notable updates.  

COVID-19 Employee Protections

• COVD-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (AB 152): Current Covid-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) was set to expire on September 30, 2022. With the signing of this bill, the current COVID-19 SPSL requirements will be extended through December 31, 2022. This bill does not create a new bank of leave for employees to use but instead provides employees an additional three (3) months to use any banked SPSL.

• Extension of Workers’ Compensation Rebuttal Presumption for COVID-19 (AB 1751): This bill extends the current rebuttable presumption established for workers’ compensation for COVID-19 to January 1, 2024, as well as extending coverage to certain state employees who were not covered previously.

• Extension of COVID-19 Notice Requirements (AB 2693): Under previous notice requirements, employers were required to provide notice to individual employees who were potentially exposed to COVID-19. These requirements have been extended to January 1, 2024, but employers are now permitted to post a notice in the workplace for 15 days instead of providing individual notice.

Leave Protections 

• Mandatory Bereavement Leave (AB 1949): Effective January 1, 2023, employees with at least 30 days of active service who request bereavement leave upon the death of a covered family member must be provided with at least five (5) days of bereavement leave that does not need to be taken consecutively.

• Expansion of Those Included as “Designated Persons” Under CFRA and PSL (AB 1041): AB 1041 amends Government Code Section 12945.2 and Labor Code Section 245.5 to expand the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) and California Paid Sick Leave (“PSL”). Specifically, the class of people for whom an employee may take leave to care for is expanded to include a “designated person” identified at the time the employee requests the leave under both PSL and CFRA. With this expansion, a “designated person” means any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the “equivalent of a family relationship,” including a domestic partner.

 Other Notable Updates

• Creation of Fast-Food Sector Council (AB 257): The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act will establish a Fast Food Sector Council comprised of 10 members, which will establish standards on minimum wages and other working conditions applicable to certain fast food workers. Most immediately, the Council will have the authority to raise the minimum hourly wage for workers as high as $22 next year. Although AB 257 is set to take effect January 1, 2023, a referendum has been filed seeking to block it until the matter can be put before voters.

• Retaliation for Emergency Conditions (SB 1044): Effective January 1, 2023, in the event of an “emergency condition,” employers are prohibited from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee who walks off the job because the employee feels unsafe. Employers also cannot prevent employees from accessing their mobile device or other communications device for seeking emergency assistance, assessing the safety of the situation, or communicating with a person to confirm their safety.

• Employment Discrimination and Cannabis (AB 2188): Effective January 1, 2024, AB 2188 will make it unlawful for employers to discriminate against an individual based on their use of cannabis outside of work or when an employer-required drug test finds non-psychoactive cannabis in the individual’s system (which indicates usage, not impairment). Certain workers are exempt from these protections and the new law will not prohibit drug-free workplace policies or prohibit employers from disciplining employees for the use or possession of cannabis during work hours.

• Expansion of Pay Data Reporting and Posting of Pay Scale in Job Postings (SB 1162): Effective January 1, 2023, California will join a growing list of states that require the disclosure of pay scales in job postings. Additionally, the existing obligation for California employers to supply pay scale information to job applicants upon request will extend to current employees. The new law also imposes certain recordkeeping requirements relating to job titles and wage rates. SB 1162 further modifies the timing and requirements for the submission of pay data reports by California employers with 100 or more employees. Finally, the law imposes various civil penalties for violations of the above-described requirements. A more detailed summary of these new job posting and pay data reporting requirements will be provided in a forthcoming blog post.

The above is intended only as a brief overview of these new laws.