- EEO-1 Reporting: Starting January 1, 2017, your business may need to track summary pay data, including wages and hours worked within 12 pay bands for each of 10 job categories. Employers will also need to continue to report on these same employees by sex, race and ethnicity. This applies to employers with 100+ employees.
- Restroom Facilities: Requires restroom facilities with one toilet and/or urinal and one sink, with a door that the user can lock from the inside to be designated as an all gender toilet facility. (AB 1732)
- Medical Marijuana: Because medical marijuana use has been expanded into 28 states as of 2017, OSHA has revised its employer restrictions for drug testing. The rule prohibits drug testing employees for reporting work-related injuries or illness without an objectively reasonable basis for doing so.
- I-9 Form:
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of January 22, 2017, all employers will be required to use the new I-9 form to conduct employment eligibility information. You can find the form here: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9
- California Retirement Plan: Employers with 100 or more employees with no retirement savings plan in effect must be enrolled within 12 months, and longer deadlines for employers with less employees (all enrolled within 36 months of January 1, 2017). (SB 1234)
- Overtime Rule: Although a federal judge in Texas halted the overtime rule passed by President Obama in 2016, this does not change the new regulations in California for salary requirements for exempt status going from $23,660 annually to $43,680 annually as of January 1, 2017.
- Electronic Filing: AB 1245 requires all employers to electronically file their employment tax returns, reports, and payments to the Employment Development Department (EDD) beginning January 1, 2017.
- Tax Rate: The 2016 UI taxable wage limit and the Employment Training Tax (ETT) taxable wage limit is $7,000 per employee for California employers. The ETT rate will remain at 0.1 percent (.001).
- Breaks: Employers must relieve employees of all duties during breaks, as learned by the $90 million payout to the class action lawsuit in Augustus v. ABM Sec. Servs., Inc. (Cal. S. Ct. 2016).
- Criminal History Questions: On December 9, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the “Fair Chance Initiative” into law. The new law, also referred to as the “Ban the Box” ordinance, restricts employers in the City of Los Angeles from asking job applicants about criminal convictions until after a conditional offer of employment has been made.
- Minimum Wage Increase: As of January 1, 2017, businesses with 26 or more employees must pay a minimum wage of $10.50 per hour; the rate increases to $15.00 per hour in 2022. Smaller businesses (with 25 or fewer employees) will be required to pay the higher rates starting in 2018.
- Paid Family Leave: Beginning January 1, 2018, the amount of paid family leave benefits increases from 55 percent of earnings to 60 or 70 percent of earnings, depending on the employee’s income (subject to a maximum weekly benefit limit). In addition, the current seven-day waiting period to receive benefits is eliminated.