The California legislative session is now over, and while many workplace-related bills were approved by the state Senate and Assembly, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed all but a handful of them. In fact, the governor vetoed 35 percent—a record—of all bills sent to him, following the historic 85-day delay in passing a state budget and the governor’s vow not to sign any legislation until the impasse ended. When a budget was finally reached, the governor had just 10 days to review bills on his desk, and he announced that the time crunch forced him “to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year’s legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California.”
The standoff between the governor and legislature means that California employers will have to contend with just a few new laws come January 2009. Here’s a rundown on key measures that got signed, and vetoed.
New laws include:
- A.B. 10 amends the Labor Code to add an annual income restriction for exempt computer software professionals who are paid on salary. Under existing law, to qualify as exempt, computer software pros must be paid at rate of at least $36/hour, on an hourly basis. The amendment also permits exemption where the employee is paid an annual salary of at least $75,000, paid at least monthly, and in a monthly amount of not less than $6,250.
- A.B. 2181 makes changes to the way that reports of occupational injury or illness are filed. The Division of Workers’ Compensation is charged with publishing a new form for this purpose. Employers will be required to report injuries/illnesses on the form, and the insurer (or self-insured employer) will then have to report the information electronically to the DWC.
- A.B. 2654 harmonizes anti-discrimination provisions in a range of state laws—including those dealing with discrimination in contracting, insurance, and workers’ compensation—to ensure that the anti-bias protections track those in the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
- S.B. 28 expands existing prohibitions on using cell phones while driving to bar text messaging, emailing, and instant messaging while driving. (Click here for more on this bill.)
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.
The list of vetoed bills includes:
- A.B. 2279 would have created protections from discharge for employees who use medical marijuana prescribed by a physician. The bill was intended to overturn the California Supreme Court’s recent ruling that existing laws don’t limit an employer’s authority to fire workers for violating federal drug laws.
- A.B. 2874 would have wiped out the $150,000 cap on damages that the Fair Employment Housing Commission could award in administrative hearings.
- A.B. 2918 would have narrowed the circumstances under which employers could procure consumer credit reports on applicants and employees.
- A.B. 3063 would have expanded California’s background check restrictions to prohibit employers from asking applicants about certain criminal convictions.
- S.B. 840 would have created a single-payer healthcare system in California, funded in part by employer contributions.
- S.B. 1583 would have imposed penalties on non-lawyer consultants who knowingly gave erroneous advice on classifying workers as independent contractors in order to avoid employee status.
- S.B. 1661 would have specified that an individual who quit or was discharged as a result of taking baby-bonding leave under California’s paid family leave law would be considered to have left the job with good cause, for purposes of qualifying for unemployment benefits.
You can link to legislation, signed and vetoed, online at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html