Welcome to 2023 – Employment Law Update

2022 was a huge year for the expansion of Employee rights in California and it is important that you are aware of all the new changes which take effect January 1, 2023. Miller Wilmers APC, a Plaintiff's employment law firm based out of Los Angeles and serving all of California has handled all manners of employment cases from discrimination and harassment to unpaid wages and commissions and everything in between. We have selected just a few of the dozens of employment law updates which we have found most relevant to employees in the State today. 

California Assembly Bill 1041: The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is the State version of the Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). California's CFRA has expanded the rights that workers have as it relates to leave to care for themselves and others. Beginning January 1, 2023, the State has expanded the definition of a “family member” to include a “designated person”. Employees will be able to identify a designated person for whom they want to use leave when they request unpaid CFRA. The “designated person” is defined as any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship and the employee may elect this designated person at the time they are requesting their leave. However, the employer is authorized to limit the employee to a single designated person per 12-month period. California recognizes the fact that some friends are closer than family, and some people do not have the luxury to be raised by a blood relative. Enjoy your right to job protected leave to care for the person who cares for you. 

California Assembly Bill 1751: COVID-19 Workers' Compensation and the rebuttable presumption that an employee's illness resulting from COVID-19 was sustained in the course of employment has been extended to January 1, 2024.This means that worker's compensation payment for time off of work related to COVID-19 illnesses have been expanded. You have the right to be compensated for this sickness you developed at your place of employment. 

California Assembly Bill 1949: California has amended the CFRA to require employers with five or more employees to provide up to five days of unpaid bereavement leave for an employee within three months of the death of a family member. Bereavement Leave is essentially leave to grieve for the loss of a loved one. 

California Assembly Bill 2068: California is now requiring further workplace posters and notices regarding certain health and safety matters related to COVID-19 to be posted in additional languages. Tha languages would be commensurate with the first languages of the employees of the Company. 

California Assembly Bill 2282: The definition of hate crime has been expanded in places of employment to include a display of hate imagery. While this has always been the case as it related to the Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers should beware that they are on the hook for more than just civil liability. 

California Assembly Bill 2693: California Labor Code section 6409.6 provided the duties of an employer when notified of potential exposure to COVID-19 and these duties have been extended to January 1, 2024. 

California Assembly Bill 2960: The Fair Employment and Housing Act has been amended to toll the Statute of Limitations during mandatory or voluntary dispute resolution proceedings to receive a right to sue notice. We see this often when employers pull out the mandatory arbitration agreement you signed many years ago that requires you to bring your claim to private dispute resolution. California has stepped in and provided some protection to employees to keep their claim alive while they abide by the terms of their contract. 

California Senate Bill 523: The Fair Employment and Housing Act has been amended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of an individual's reproductive health-decision making and expands required health plan coverage to include contraceptives. This means whether you are for or against abortion, the use of contraceptives or any other matter that is entirely your business and the employer cannot discriminate, or take retaliatory action because of your actions or beliefs related to it. 

California Senate Bill 1162: The Wage Transparency Bill requires employers of 100 or more contracted employees to submit separate annual pay date reports regarding its contracted employees to California's Civil Rights Department on or before the second Wednesday of May 2023; and requires employers of 15 employees or more that engages a third party to announce, post, publish, or otherwise make known a job posting to provide the pay scale to the third party and would require the third party to include the PayScale in the job posting.  Violations of these provisions are statutorily imposed and could be devastating for employers.

If you have questions regarding any of the above updates, please do not hesitate to contact our office to discuss how our employment team can assist your business.