New Year Checklist

After having the holidays off, it’s time to make sure you are ready for the new year. We have provided a short checklist to help out:

  • Increased minimum wage — California’s minimum wage for hourly employees increased to $15/hour in companies of 26 or more employees and $14/hour in companies of 25 or fewer employees. Remember to check for local ordinances, such as the City of San Diego’s that requires $15/hour in companies of all sizes.

  • Increased minimum salary — When the minimum wage goes up, so does the minimum salary. Salaries have increased to $62,400/year in companies of 26 or more employees and $58,240/year in companies of 25 or few employees. Local ordinances do not affect the salary because it’s based on the state minimum wage.

  • Review your exempt (salaried) employees to confirm their responsibilities and duties still qualify for a Federal exemption. Otherwise, they need to be converted to non-exempt (hourly).

  • Review your pay stubs to ensure they are still accurate and complete. Payroll systems have unexpected quirks just like any other software. Make sure both your company name and address are still correct.

  • Send out the holiday schedule for 2022 with the specific days you’ll be closed and who will be paid or unpaid on those dates. Your Employee Handbook may cite the holidays normally observed but you still want to provide a memo to employees showing the actual dates for 2022 and who, if anyone, is paid on those days. Even if you close for a holiday, you’re not legally required to offer holiday pay.

  • Review paid sick leave in payroll to ensure the balances reset to the front-loaded amount or the accrued amount was carried over. If you are using the calendar year as your plan year, now is the time to make sure your payroll processor handled the year-end changes properly.

  • Review your Employee Handbook to ensure any legal updates or policy changes have been made and your policies match your practices. What you do (practice) carries more weight than what is written (policy) but you really want them to match to avoid problems.

It pays to take time now, at the beginning of a new year, to ensure any legal changes have been properly handled. It’s also a great time to review your policies and other documents for any needed changes. Get a great start to your year knowing everything is as it should be.

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