New Employment Laws Protect Workers In California, Create Compliance Challenges

Are you up for the new employment law changes?

California has always been at the forefront of employment law legislation. A significant expansion of California’s sexual harassment prevention law, a first-of-its-kind diversity law, salary history ban, and several minimum wage increases are among the host of dizzying new employment law changes in the Golden State for 2019. Not only are the changes relevant to companies headquartered in California but they apply to multistate employers doing business there as well.
 

The #MeToo movement has sparked expanded sexual harassment laws, which make it illegal for California employers to ban workers from disclosing sexual harassment or other unlawful employment practices, and from participating in a discrimination or harassment investigation.
 
California also has expanded its anti-sexual harassment training requirements from covering employers with 50 or more employees to mandating it for employers with five or more employees. Previously, the training was required only for managers and supervisors. Now it is required for all employees, including temporary and seasonal employees, and must be repeated every two years. 

California has become the first state to require publicly held corporations that are headquartered in the state to have at least one woman on their board of directors. The new law includes steep penalty provisions and could affect hundreds of employers.

Companies have until December 31, 2019, to comply. However, the novel law includes additional compliance requirements by the close of 2021, including if there are:

 
Nearly 30% of 642 publicly-traded California-based companies examined by Board Governance Research will have to add a female director this year to comply with the law. Companies with higher levels of gender diversity were found to have stronger financial performance, stronger governance practices and a more engaged workforce. 

California has amended its 2018 salary history question ban to allow employers to ask about a job applicant’s “salary expectations” and to clarify when a job applicant may inquire about an employer’s pay scale. The amendments address unanswered questions, including who qualifies as an applicant. The current law says that an employer must provide, upon reasonable request, an applicant with the pay scale for the position sought after one job interview. 

In the immediate future, the following California municipalities are slated for varying minimum wage increases (ranging from $13.25 to $15.69) effective July 1:

California employers seemingly need a scorecard each year to keep up with all of the employment law changes afoot, but this is especially true in 2019. Multistate employers with offices in California need to comply with these updated laws and be aware of changes that are on the horizon as well.

David Weisenfeld is a Legal Editor for the pre-employment background check, job advertising, and interviewing and selection content in the recruiting and hiring section of XpertHR USA.  Visit www.xperthr.com Connect David Weisenfeld Follow @DavidWeisenfeld