Maybe California just has a bizarre sense of humor or maybe not. April Fool’s Day (4/1) this year presents new challenges for business owners and HR staff.
California’s FEHA (Fair Employment and Housing Act) has been amended and the following new regulations go into effect on April 1st:
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- You must distribute and post a new mandatory notice on Rights and Obligations as a Pregnant Employee.
- We now have much more recordkeeping to do regarding harassment and abusive conduct prevention training, including copies of the materials used for the training. This isn’t just for the mandatory supervisory training.
- You can’t discriminate against applicants or employees using a California driver’s license for undocumented immigrants.
- The temps you get from staffing agencies are now deemed to be the employee of BOTH the agency’s and worksite employer (you).
- Interns now have protection against discrimination.
- And, drumroll please for the biggest item… You must develop a separate, very detailed “harassment, discrimination, and retaliation prevention policy” that has a long list of requirements. Your Employee Handbook policy is unlikely to have the level of detail required in this mandatory, separately issued policy. You’ll definitely want help from an employment law attorney.
Are you laughing yet? Thought not. This isn’t your usual fun for April Fool’s Day, is it?
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