A number of workplace-related bills considered last year in Sacramento and Washington have cropped up again—and could have a big impact on employers—from workers’ comp reform to a ban on secret e-mail monitoring.
Sacramento Agenda
In California, these issues are on the table:
- Workers’ comp. S.B. 71 calls for a Senate study of an appropriate increase in workers’ comp benefits.
- Unemployment benefits. S.B. 40 phases in several unemployment benefits increases by 2004. It would impose a $250 penalty on employers that don’t provide claim information to the Department of Employment Development, and it would also permit workers to collect unemployment while receiving payments under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
- State labor agency. S.B. 25 creates a single state labor agency combining various state departments that handle workplace issues.
- Employee computer records. S.B. 147 prohibits employers from secretly monitoring employee e-mail and other computer records.
- Workers’ comp fraud. A.B. 129 would permit employers to ask job applicants if they ever gave false statements in connection with a workers’ comp claim and to fire employees who didn’t disclose this information in an employment application.
Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to know about new laws and regulations, and your compliance obligations, for the year ahead—it’s one-stop shopping at its best.
Washington Docket
These proposals are pending in Congress:
- Minimum wage. S. 8 would boost the federal minimum wage to $6.65 by 2003.
- Pension reform. H.R. 10, the Portman-Cardin Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act, increases the maximum contribution limits for both traditional and Roth IRAs and 401(k) plans.
- Family and medical leave. S. 849 amends the Family and Medical Leave Act, making employees responsible for requesting leave and letting workers choose between FMLA leave or paid leave. And H.R. 1312 would permit parents with minor children to take leave after a spouse dies.
- Employment discrimination. Under H.R. 1489 and S. 163, you couldn’t require employees to sign agreements to arbitrate bias claims. Other pending bills prohibit employment discrimination based on protected genetic information (H.R. 602 and S. 318) and sexual orientation (H.R. 217). And H.R. 781 and S. 77 would strengthen remedies for federal Equal Pay Act violations.
- Mandatory overtime for nurses. Under H.R. 1289, employers couldn’t require nurses to work more than eight hours a day or more than 80 hours over two weeks.
- Telecommuting. H.R. 1012 and S. 521 provide tax credits to workers or their employer for purchasing equipment that allows an employee to telecommute.
We’ll keep you posted.