Undesirable New Bills

We like to keep track of which legislative bills are being proposed and up to a vote. Some are scary for employers; well, they are all scary but some more than others.

California legislators are reviewing some proposed bills that are considered “job killers” by the California Chamber of Commerce. Here are a couple:

• Unfair Scheduling Mandate — AB5 will require employers to offer current employees additional hours prior to hiring a new employee or contractor. It does not require you to pay overtime but would mean first offering more hours to employees working less than full-time. This could result in more employees qualifying for benefits.
• Expanded Maternity and Paternity Leave — SB63 would require companies with as few as 20 employees to provide protected unpaid leaves of absence to employees for the purpose of baby bonding. Currently this is only required of companies with 50 or more employees.

Fortunately, not every bill is passed and some are altered considerably before they make it very far in the process. Here are a couple we’re glad they altered:

• Expanded CA Family Rights — SB62 originally would have added to the number of family members covered under leaves of absences for employees. This would have meant providing potentially up to 24 weeks of protected leaves for more reasons than now available.
• Prevailing Wages on All Development Projects — AB199 originally would have required prevailing wage to be paid to employees on all private and public development projects.

The good news is this is a much smaller list that most years. It does seem, however, that more laws are being proposed that will affect smaller and smaller companies. That’s a problem because small companies are so challenged when it comes to the administrative side of compliance. If you’re finding this to be a problem, let’s talk!