Question: Are there any new employment laws that require me to update my company’s employee handbook?
Answer: Yes; there are several new employment laws that will affect California businesses, and some will require updating your employee handbook. Some of the new laws are:
Increase in mandatory paid sick leave. Beginning January 1, 2024, Senate Bill 616 requires employers (with narrow exceptions) to provide 40 hours (5 days) of paid sick leave per year to all employees. This is an increase from the current law, which requires 24 hours (3 days) of paid sick leave per year.
Employers may choose to provide the mandatory paid sick leave via an accrual method or a lump sum method. The accrual method requires employers to provide at least 1 hour of paid sick leave to each employee for every 30 hours the employee works. Under the accrual method, an employer can limit employees’ use of paid sick leave to 40 hours per year and cap the maximum amount of sick leave that an employee can carry over into the next year at 80 hours. Employers may use a different accrual method (other than the standard 1:30 accrual) as long as it provides employees with at least 24 hours (3 days) of paid sick leave by their 120th calendar day of employment, and no less than 40 hours (5 days) of paid sick leave by their 200th calendar day of employment.
The lump sum method requires employers to deposit 40 hours of paid sick leave into each employee’s sick leave bank each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period. Employers using the lump sum method can limit employees’ use of paid sick leave to 40 hours per year and prohibit carryover of sick leave hours since each employee will receive a new allotment of 40 hours of sick leave on the first day of the subsequent year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period.
Additional terms of the new mandatory paid sick leave law will require an updated handbook policy and communication with employees and your payroll company.
Reproductive loss leave. Beginning January 1, 2024, Senate Bill 848 allows employees who work for an employer with 5 or more persons to take up to 5 days of unpaid time off following a reproductive loss, defined as a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction. Up to 20 days of unpaid time off per year must be provided to eligible employees who suffer more than one reproductive loss. This leave does not run concurrently with California Family Rights Act leave or Pregnancy Disability Leave.
Workplace Violence Prevention Plan. Beginning July 1, 2024, Senate Bill 553 requires employers to establish, implement, and maintain a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan as part of their Illness and Injury Prevention Program. Employee training, maintaining a violent incident log, and keeping records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, and correction are also required.
Increase in minimum exempt employee salary and minimum wage. California’s minimum wage increases to $16.00 per hour on January 1, 2024. The minimum salary paid to exempt employees increases to $66,560. See https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/inventory-of-us-city-and-county-minimum-wage-ordinances/#s-2 for a list of cities and counties with a higher minimum wage.
Contact your employment law counsel to update your policies and procedures to comply with the new laws.