Welcome to Friday’s 5, a series of posts each Friday of lists of five items in various aspect of California employment law. I hope to keep it informative and interesting, and provide a checklist of sorts for California employers to review various practices and policies. Starting off, here is a list of five items not to be overlooked by California employers:
1. Wage Theft Protection Act Notices To Employees.
California’s Wage Theft Protection Act of 2011 has required every employer in California to provide written notices to employees beginning in January 1, 2012. The law is set forth in Labor Code section 2810.5, and requires private employers to provide all new non-exempt employees with a written notice that contains certain basic information about their employment. The law also requires employers to notify employees in writing of any changes to the information in the notice within seven calendar days of any changes, unless the changes are reflected on a timely wage statement that complies with Labor code Section 226. Employers do not need to notify employees of any changes if the change is provided in another writing required by law within seven days of the changes. The California Labor Commissioner has published a sample notice template that complies with the requirements of the law, which can be viewed here [PDF]. This is an easy form to complete for non-exempt employees, and should be a mandatory document in every employer’s new hire packet.
2. Written commission statements signed by both the employee and employer.
As of January 1, 2013, when an employee is paid commissions, the employer must provide a written contract setting forth the method the commissions will be computed and paid. The written agreement must be signed by both the employer and employee. Commission wages are “compensation paid to any person for services rendered in the sale of such employer’s property or services and based proportionately upon the amount or value thereof.” Commissions do not include (1) short-term productivity bonuses, (2) temporary, variable incentive payment that increase, but do not decrease, payment under the written contract, and (3) bonus and profit-sharing plans, unless there has been an offer by the employer to pay a fixed percentage of sales or profits as compensation for work to be performed.
3. Pregnancy disability leave policy in employee handbook.
For employers with five or more employees, it is mandatory that they have a pregnancy disability leave (PDL) policy. Moreover, if the employer has an employee handbook, it is required to include information about pregnancy leave in the handbook. For more information about PDL under California law, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing provides a summary of basic requirements here.
4. Harassment prevention training for supervisors every two years.
Since 2005, California employers with more than 50 employees must provide two hours of sexual harassment prevention training to supervisors and managers within six months of hire or promotion, and every two years after that. Completion of the training should be documented in the supervisor’s personnel file.
5. California employers must pay visiting out-of-state workers according to California overtime rules.
In Sullivan v. Oracle the California Supreme Court has clarified that California’s overtime rules apply to anyone performing work within the state, regardless of their state of residency or how long they may be working in California.