New Year Reminders

It’s a new year and, as always, there are certain things that must be done immediately to be legally compliant:

• New I-9 form — If you haven’t already switched to it, start using the new I-9 Form for new hires. The deadline is 1/22/2017 and, if you’re using the old form at that time, you would be subject to penalties. Current employees do not complete the new form. Each time a new I-9 form is issued, you begin using the new form for new employees hired after the effective date. Exceptions might be if a current employee needs to have their ID re-certified. Read the instructions to determine how to handle that or other particular situations.
• New employment law poster — You definitely need the employment law poster. We saw a lot of updates last year that will now be incorporated into the new poster. Review the other items you have posted and take down any that are duplicates of laws on the 2017 poster.
• Higher minimum wages — Minimum wage increased to $10.50/hour in California and increased to $11.50/hour within the San Diego city limits. There are at least 22 localities within California with minimum wages higher than the state minimum so you need to see if you are within one of those areas and what the specific rules are for you. For example, the California law has an exception for companies with less than 25 employees but the San Diego law affects all employers, regardless of size.
• Higher minimum salary — The new California minimum salary for exempt employees is $43,680/year ($3,640/month or $840/week). This is a calculation of “2 X state minimum wage X 2080 hours (full-time).” This minimum does not change regardless of how few hours the employee might work. Higher local minimum wages do not affect the minimum salary. The higher Federal salary was indefinitely postponed so, for now, the California minimum is the number you must meet.
• Updated Wage Theft Prevention notice — If you increase or change any California hourly employee’s wages, you must provide them with an updated NonExempt Wage Theft Prevention notice.
• Coming in March — All gender bathrooms: If you have any single user restrooms, the signage must be changed to show both genders can now use it. Although this law doesn’t go into effect until March, now is the time to review the situation and order new signage so you’ll be ready.

Act now to take care of everything this week so you aren’t starting the new year with risks that are easy to eliminate. Also, completing your HR to-do’s now lets you focus on your business goals going forward. Let us know if you need help.