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As positive COVID cases continue to rise, we want to remind everyone of your reporting requirements. This was simpler a few months ago but new laws have been layered upon old laws and now reporting is more tedious. If you have an employee testing positive (and who doesn’t just work from home), you must make several reports and notifications now and even more as of 1/1/2021.
Most importantly, only the DWC-1 form below has the positive case employee’s name on it. Every other document should only use an identifier code, not the employee’s name.
Within one business day of a positive test result:
Have the employee complete a DWC-1 regarding how they believe they were exposed. This stays in your files.Provide written notice to all employees (and contractors and contractor’s companies) who were on that worksite within the infectious period that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. The infectious period is 2 days before the first symptom/test and approximately 10 days after.Provide written notice to all employees who may have been exposed explaining COVID-related benefits they may be entitled to from you and from state/federal governments, such as paid time off to quarantine.Provide written notice to all employees [click to read more …]
“I’m so confused about all the rules out there for COVID. Can you simplify it for me?”
Your HR Survival Tip
Don’t feel like you’re alone. You’re confused because the laws and regulations are piling on top of each other instead of business owners receiving one clear message. While we will try to provide a few tips and insights here, this topic has moved into OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) domain rather than employment law (our specialty). Therefore, we strongly recommend you talk with your Safety Manager or outsourced safety company.
Cal/OSHA is California’s version of OSHA but with a few additions to the Federal rules. On 11/30/2020, Cal/OSHA approved new regulations that went into effect immediately. Some of those regulations are contrary to what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) uses but we must follow Cal/OSHA rules until they update them. The best thing about these regs were the definitions provided:
A COVID-19 “case” is defined as someone who has tested positive, with or without symptoms, employee or non-employee.“Close contact” is defined as being within six (6) feet of someone for, or more than, 15 minutes total in a 24-hour period regardless of wearing masks.The “exposure period” [click to read more …]
“I’m confused about how to calculate when employees need to start their meal break.”
Your HR Survival Tip
California is very specific about the timing of the meal and rest breaks for non-exempt (hourly) employees so it’s important you understand the law.
The 30-minute unpaid meal break must begin WITHIN the first 5 hours of an employee’s day. This means you must have them clock out on or before 4 hours and 59 minutes from clocking in that day. Once the timeclock hits 5 hours from clock in time, they are late with their meal period and owed one hour of premium pay that day. You are expected to enforce the meal break so you should seriously consider scheduling these breaks to ensure everyone starts their break within the allotted time and you have coverage for them while on break.
Clock in at 7:05 am requires a clock out on or before 12:04 pm.Clock in at 8:30 am requires a clock out on or before 1:29 pm.Clock in at 9:00 am requires a clock out on or before 1:59 pm.
A 10-minute paid rest break is available to the employee when they work “the greater of a 4-hour period.” [click to read more …]
ORDER YOUR NEW LABOR LAW POSTER NOW
Just so you know, this is my favorite site for ordering employment law posters. The reason is… they offer both the poster and update service for less than most places charge just for the poster.
It’s been years since we were able to put off getting posters each year. With new laws added so frequently, you really need a new poster each and every year. Keep your business compliant and avoid hefty fines and employee lawsuits with the new All-In-One Labor Law Poster with Update Service:
All-In-One State and Federal Labor Law Poster is fully laminated and attorney-approved.Continued compliance throughout the year with the 1-Year E-Update Service that provides updated postings via email with every mandatory federal & state change.$25,000 ‘We-Pay-The-Fine’ Guarantee protects your business against costly fines and imposed penalties.
If you haven’t already ordered your posters, do it now because the new year is here! Get the special discounted price currently available by using the code “DEAL” when ordering.
[click to read more …]
“I am creating an offer letter only because the candidate asked for one but I don’t know what I should put in it.”
Your HR Survival Tip
While an offer letter has not always been legally required, it has always been a good idea. Newer laws require a written offer to candidates, depending upon your hiring process. The biggest problem we see is companies trying to put too much into that letter or not using the correct language…both of which can be problematic. We prefer to keep the actual offer letter quite simple because it can be considered a legal document.
DO include the full details of the proposed position, such as “We are pleased to offer you the non-exempt, full-time position of Program Coordinator, reporting to __.” DO include the date you want the person to start in this position. Hopefully, you already discussed the date they will be available but, if not, use something like “on or before December 1st, 2020.” While you may be anxious for them to begin, you also want to appreciate the fact that they want to give their current employer notice rather than leaving abruptly. How they leave that employer is a [click to read more …]
“I’d like to implement a plan that rewards employees for recommending people they know to our company. What do I need to consider?”
Your HR Survival Tip
Employee referral plans can be a huge benefit to your company and for your employees. When a current employee recommends someone to apply, they want the reward. As a side benefit to you, they often feel responsible for the success of that person and won’t recommend people they think might make them look bad.
When planning to offer a referral bonus, there are more things to consider than you might think:
What is the value of receiving a recommendation from an employee? Recruiting time and money can often cost you far more than paying a referral bonus. We see plans paying $300-$1000, depending upon the position. When does the current employee receive the bonus? Consider how long it takes a new hire to start doing well in the job. Or look at your turnover and determine when most of it happens. If you have a lot of turnover in the first three months, then you want to wait until after that to pay out any bonus. What process needs to be in [click to read more …]
We have a few hard deadlines ahead of us that require action. Start scheduling now to ensure everything is ready and/or done by the deadline.
By 12/31/2020 — Sexual Harassment Prevention Training
If your company has 5+ employees anywhere, including owners, all your California employees must complete their sexual harassment prevention training by 12/31 of this year. This is paid time for the employees so schedule it accordingly. We have had two years to get this training completed so it’s highly unlikely the state will accept any excuses for not meeting the deadline. There are several resources for this training available online, including our training.
On 1/1/2021 — New Minimum Wage
On January 1st, the CA minimum wage increases again for non-exempt (hourly) employees. Companies with 25 or fewer employees must pay $13/hour, while companies with 26 or more employees must pay $14/hour. These numbers will continue to increase by $1 for the next two years. Please check the law in your area because most have a higher minimum wage. For example, the city of San Diego’s minimum wage will be $14/hour on 1/1 for companies of any size.
On 1/1/2021 — New Minimum Salary
Whenever the state’s minimum wage [click to read more …]
If you have or were using independent contractors, you know California has complicated it over the past couple of years. The California Supreme Court established the ABC test, which made it very hard to have contractors doing anything related to customers. Then AB5 clarified certain positions could be classified as contractors. While this opened the door a bit, it’s still been hard for most companies to hire contractors and be confident with that decision.
Governor Newsom just signed AB2257, which now opens that door a bit wider. Workers that may now qualify as independent contractors include:
Certain occupations in connection with creating, marketing, promoting, or distributing sound recordings or musical compositions.A musician or musical group for the purpose of a single-engagement live performance event, except in certain conditions.An individual performance artist presenting material that is their original work, creative in character, and the result of which depends primarily on the individual’s invention, imagination, or talent.Still photographer, photojournalist, videographer, or photo editor, as defined, who works under a written contract that specifies certain terms.People who provide services to a digital content aggregator, as defined, by a still photographer, photojournalist, videographer, or photo editor.Fine artist, freelance writer, translator, editor, content [click to read more …]
We often see little pieces of information that may affect you. This is just a quick summary of some of those items.
FFCRA Back to School Options
It’s possible the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) has more frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers than anything we’ve seen in years. As always, the emergency Family Medical Leave (FMLA) component is available to employees who are unable to work or telework because of childcare issues. Now that schools have reopened in one format or another, more explanations were in order. The newest additions are FAQ #98, 99, and 100. Some schools now or in the upcoming months will offer in-person classes. The FFCRA monies will only be available if the school is not offering in-person classes, forcing the employee to stay home with their child due to remote learning. However, keep in mind the original qualification…the employee also cannot be able to work OR telework due to childcare issues.
FFCRA Revisions
Based on a court decision in New York, a few things have changed with how the FFCRA is generally applied by companies.
If someone is still officially your employee, they may be eligible for FFCRA monies even if [click to read more …]
“I have an employee on pregnancy/maternity leave but I need to call her back to work because I’m short on help right now. What are my options?”
Your HR Survival Tip Leave
Different leaves of absence have different rules in California. Many of the differences are related to company size but pregnancy leave has very specific rules.
Delivery
When your employee wants to stop working, she must provide you with a doctor’s note stating the date she must stop working and the expected amount of time off. This is considered the disability period because pregnancy is managed the same as other disability leaves. However, pregnancy disability is protected time off in California (meaning you must give her the same job back once she returns to work). The normal time off is 8 weeks and you cannot require your employee to work during this period or there could be legal issues.
Baby Bonding
Baby bonding is not always protected time off. In a company with 19 or fewer employees, the company does not have to offer any time off for baby bonding. In fact, if you do offer it, it is actually just a personal leave of absence and is [click to read more …]
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