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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had until October 9th to act
on the hundreds of bills placed before him. For many in the
business community, his numerous vetoes of
employment-related bills were seen as a positive step for
employers in the state of California. If you would like to
see the full text of these bills, please go to
www.dir.ca.gov
Passed into
Law
SB 833 –
Faxes
This bill makes it unlawful to
send unsolicited advertisements via a fax machine without
the written consent of the recipient. In effect it requires
written consent from a company's own customers and clients
prior to sending certain fax communications. This law does
not apply to tax-exempt, non-profit organizations provided
specific conditions are met.
AB 1093 --
Direct Deposit of Final Wages
Employers may now pay an
employee's final wages by direct deposit provided the
employee has authorized this method of wage payment and that
the employer follows all other existing requirements around
final pay.
As a reminder, all accrued
vacation and PTO must be included in the final wages and the
time limits for providing the final wages are as follows:
final payment is due 1) at time of termination when the
employer is making the decision to separate, 2) within 72
hours if the employee has given less than 72 hour notice of
a resignation, or 3) at the time of separation where the
employee has given more than 72 hours notice of a
resignation.
Vetoed
AB 48 –
Minimum Wage
Would have increased the state
minimum wage from the current $6.75 per hour to $7.25 per
hour effective July 1, 2006, with another increase to $7.75
effective July 1, 2007 and with indexed increases
thereafter. A raise in minimum wage would also affect the
exempt salary requirement.
SB 174 –
Class Action Lawsuits
Would have added a new so
called "sue your boss" lawsuit, which would have allowed
employees suing for unpaid minimum wages or overtime to
bring class action lawsuits without having to meet class
action suit guidelines, as long as the employees bringing
the suit were receiving less than two times the minimum wage
at the time of the pay violation.
AB 1310 –
Increased Litigation
Would have required that
certain private sector employers precisely follow a very
detailed notice process in order for an employer to be able
to utilize any severance agreement.
AB 875 –
State Agency Sharing of Information
Would have let state agencies
share information to be able to target for investigation
employers violating labor or tax laws.
AB 391 –
Unemployment
Would have allowed employees
who were "locked out" due to a labor dispute to be able to
collect unemployment insurance benefits.
AB 169 –
Pay Equity
Would have mandated damage
awards and new civil penalties for gender pay equity
violations. |
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