Minimum wage

The most basic change to California employment laws in 2022 is that the minimum wage in the state has increased to $14 per hour for employers with up to 25 employees, and $15 per hour for employers with 26 or more.

In addition, computer software workers and licensed physicians have industry-specific minimum wages. Some cities and counties in the state have also adopted minimum wage standards higher than the state minimum, so you should check with local ordinances to confirm the rate where you work.

Wage theft

Wage theft takes many forms, including the following:

• Managers taking tips

• Workers required to work ‘off the clock’

• Misclassification of employees as ‘exempt’ or ‘independent contractors’ and denying overtime pay

• Illegal ‘clawback’ of earned wages

• Unpaid commissions or guaranteed bonuses

According to California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), this illegal practice costs California workers $2 billion a year. That’s why Gonzalez sponsored AB 1003, which adds criminal penalties to civil damages for bosses who steal their employees’ wages.

Now, under Penal Code 487(m), any employer who takes more than $950 from any employee or more than $2,350 from any group of employees within 12 months can face prosecution for grand theft

Records retention

One of the hardest parts of bringing a claim against your current or former employer is proving your case . After all, your boss keeps all the records—and in some cases, doesn’t. But a new law requires employers to keep personnel records for a minimum of four years, an increase from the previous two-year limit.

This enables workers to gain access to their payroll and disciplinary files for the preceding four years—about the same amount of time the statute of limitations allows them to file a lawsuit. This also means that you should act quickly to collect your documents to ensure you recover the most for your claims.

Electronic workplace postings

State regulations require bosses to post notice of workers’ rights in prominent places in the workplace, usually in a breakroom. But COVID-19 has changed demands. More people are working from home, but there are no bulletin boards in the virtual workplace.

So, SB 657 was passed to require those notices to be sent out electronically via email. The notices include minimum wage and payday schedules, as well as the appropriate Wage Order that regulates the business. Wage Orders define employee rights and employer obligations and tell you what you can do when you face a situation that seems wrong to you.

Warehouse quotas

One of the most alarming situations that have come to light since the COVID-19 pandemic is the working conditions in some of the major online retailers’ warehouses. For example, workers have reportedly been unable to use the restroom because of quotas so demanding that they must constantly be working. Unfortunately, this is just one of the horror stories we’ve heard about abuses in these distribution centers.

AB701 attempts to get these problems under control. It limits quotas to ensure workers are allowed time to take legally-required meal and rest breaks and use the restroom as needed. It also obliges the employer to give specific notice of the quota and creates a mechanism for workers to complain if their quotas violate the law.

Non-disclosure agreements

Many employers request non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, as part of severance packages or settlement agreements. These typically require the employee to keep silent about problems that arose in the workplace. The legislature concluded that these NDAs are against the public interest because they prevent workers from sharing information about issues like sexual harassment or wage theft.

CFRA Expansion

The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is the state’s version of the federal government’s Family Medical Leave Act (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla) (FMLA). While they are very similar, the CFRA offers employees some rights that FMLA doesn’t. And new additions to the law expand those rights slightly.

CFRA provides leave to workers whose ‘family member’ has a serious health condition requiring care and attention. Before January 1, 2022, ‘family member’ was defined as spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or domestic partner. The law was changed to include parents-in-law.

Adjustments to the law also require businesses with 5-19 employees to notify their workers of their right to mediation through the Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s dispute resolution division instead of filing a civil lawsuit for violations of the CFRA. Employees are obliged to contact the DFEH and request mediation to resolve the dispute.

Get a fast, fair result

These are just some of the laws going into effect this year. You might find your employer makes mistakes and gets things wrong as the changes become law. That’s understandable. In that case, you should try to fix the problem with a friendly conversation and a genuine attempt to straighten things out. That usually does the trick.

But if you see a pattern of behavior suggesting your boss is trying to pull a fast one and get away with violating your rights or stealing your hard-earned wages, contact Employee Law Group. Our experienced attorneys have handled thousands of cases for workers who were cheated, abused, and discriminated against on the job. We can discuss the facts of your case and work to get you a fast, fair result.