New Pay Transparency Act
Senate Bill 1162
by Rachel Reddick

On September 27, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1162, a broad pay transparency bill requiring employers to include pay ranges in all job advertisements beginning January 1, 2023. The bill also expands an employer’s duty to respond to requests for pay scales and mandates reporting requirements and record keeping.

What are Employers Required to Do Now?

First, in any internal or external job posting, employers with fifteen or more employees must include the pay scale for a position’s salary or hourly wage range (not including bonuses or equity-based compensation). “Pay scale” means the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position.

Second, upon reasonable request, an employer must provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant applying for employment, and to a current employee for the position in which the employee is currently employed. The requirement to provide the position’s salary or hourly wage range upon request applies to all employers, including those with less than 15 employees.

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Bereavement Leave as a Protected Leave of Absence
Assembly Bill 1949
by Christopher Nannini

On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 1949 (AB 1949), which makes it unlawful for an employer to refuse to grant an employee’s request for up to five days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. Under the law, family members include a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, registered domestic partner, or parent-in-law.

AB 1949 takes effect on January 1, 2023. It creates a new form of protected leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and is separate and distinct from the twelve workweeks of unpaid protected CFRA leave during any 12-month period for family care and medical leave.

Under AB 1949, California employers must offer an employee five days off for the mourning of the loss of a loved one. Employers may provide paid or unpaid bereavement leave. If the bereavement leave is unpaid, employees may use vacation time, paid sick leave, or other accrued time off. The law does not provide a limit for how many times an employee may request and take bereavement leave.

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Workers’ Rights In Emergencies Law
Senate Bill 1044
by Susannah Ashton

Senate Bill 1044 (SB 1044) is effective January 1, 2023. This law, called “Workers’ Rights in Emergencies,” prohibits employers from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace or worksite because the employee has a reasonable belief that the workplace or worksite is unsafe.

Who Does the Workers’ Rights in Emergencies Law Apply to?
The law applies to all employers, including private and public entities, including special districts, except for depository institutions (e.g., such as an insured bank, a mutual savings bank, a savings bank, or a credit union) and correctional facilities.

This new law provides rights to all employees, with certain, specified, exemptions, such as essential workers, first responders, disaster service workers, employees or contractors of a health care facility who provides direct patient care, employees who are actively operating equipment, among others.

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The Future of Drug Testing for Cannabis
Assembly Bill 2188
by Bradley Levang

On September 19, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 2188. The law amends the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to make it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against someone in hiring, termination, or any term or condition of employment, or otherwise penalize a person, if the discrimination is based upon:

1) the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or
2) an employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids.

How Does This New Law Change Drug Testing Practices?
Although AB 2188 was recently signed into law, it will not go into effect until January 1, 2024. The law does not prohibit testing employees for the presence of cannabis. Rather, the law places restrictions on discriminating against employees for their off-the-job cannabis use or based on test results from certain types of drug screening tests that indicate nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites. The law still allows an employer to prohibit employees from possessing, using, or being impaired by cannabis on the job. Also, the law still allows an employer to maintain a drug- and alcohol-free workplace.

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Modifications to COVID-19 Exposure Notification Requirements and the Workers Compensation Presumption
Assembly Bill 2693 / Assembly Bill 175
by Marco Lucido

What are the Changes to Workplace COVID-19 Exposure Notification Rules?

On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law California Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2693. Effective January 1, 2023, AB 2693 makes some key changes to the existing COVID-19 notification requirements under the California Labor Code section 6409.6. Currently, Labor Code section 6409.6 requires employers to provide employees with written notice of a potential COVID-19 workplace exposure within one business day after receiving notice of the potential exposure.

Beginning January 1, 2023, employers will have the option to comply with the workplace exposure requirement by posting a single notice of potential COVID-19 exposure at the worksite (or online employee portals) as an alternative to providing the written notice to exposed employees. Employers who prefer the written notice procedure may continue following that procedure.

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Expansion of Family Leave Laws to Include Non-Family Members
Assembly Bill 1041
by Ashley Cameron

Starting in January 2023, eligible employees may take job-protected leave to care for a “designated person.” On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1041, which expands the definition of a “family member” under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and California’s Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act (HWHFA) to include a “designated person.”

What are the Expanded Rights to Family Leave?
CFRA allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid job-protected leave during a 12-month period for specified reasons. One reason is to care for a family member who has a serious health condition. Currently, the CFRA defines family member as a child, parent (including parent-in-law), spouse, registered domestic partner, grandchild, grandparent, and sibling.

AB 1041 expands the definition of family member to include a “designated person,” so eligible employees will now be able to take CFRA leave to care for a “designated person” who has a serious health condition. A designated person is defined as “any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” Employees can identify the “designated person” at the time the employee submits a request for CFRA leave. An employer can limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period.

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The Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022
Senate Bill 523
by Gladys Rodriguez-Morales

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects individuals from harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in employment on the basis of their membership in a protected class as listed by the FEHA. Those protected classes include race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, and military and veteran status.

On September 27, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 523 known as the “Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022,” which becomes effective on January 1, 2023. The Act amends the FEHA by including “reproductive health decisionmaking” as a protected class, making it unlawful to harass or discriminate against individuals on the basis of their “reproductive health decisionmaking,” which includes, but is not limited to, an individual’s decision to use or access a particular drug, device, product, or medical service for reproductive health.

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Rachel W. Reddick

Prior to joining Fenton & Keller, Rachel served as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Navy as well as counsel for the Department of Defense. As a Judge Advocate, Rachel gained valuable trial experience as both a prosecutor and defense attorney at the trial level. CLICK FOR BIO.

Christopher L. Nannini

Christopher’s practice focuses on civil litigation, business litigation, employment law, and trust and estate litigation. Christopher began working for Fenton & Keller in 2022, assisting in civil litigation, employment law, and business law.While attending Monterey College of Law, Christopher was a Heisler Moot Court Finalist and upon graduation, Christopher received an award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. CLICK FOR BIO.

Tara L. Clemens

Tara’s practice focuses on business transactions, estates, and civil litigation. Prior to joining Fenton & Keller as an associate attorney, Tara worked for an international law firm assisting in the representation of public and private sector clients for a variety of litigation and corporate matters, including employment disputes, the 2010 Alaska Redistricting Board. CLICK FOR BIO.

Abel N. Barba

Abel was born in Salinas and grew up in Greenfield, California, where he continues to live with his family. After graduating from Greenfield High School, Abel attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he received his degree in Philosophy. Abel then received his Juris Doctorate from the San Luis Obispo School of Law. CLICK FOR BIO.