ʹͲʹͶϐ Employers must now provide and allow five days or 40 hours of paid sick leave to their California employees in 2024. The new law, SB-616, went into effect on Jan. 1. Before this year, employers were
In another victory for California workers, AB- 2188 became effective on Jan. 1, giving employees protection from being fired by their employer for using marijuana during non-working hours. The law was passed in 2022 by lawmakers who believed it wasn’t fair for companies to punish workers for failing certain drug tests. Exceptions to this law include construction workers and employers who must conduct drug testing as part of their federal contracts. California was a little late to the party for implementing this bill, even though it was one of the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, in 2016. Six other states—Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Montana and Rhode Island—already had laws in place before this year protecting workers’ rights to use recreational marijuana without fear of losing their jobs.
allowed to limit an employee’s sick day use to three days or 24 hours per year. That law, AB-1522, first went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, how employers provide this leave depends on what kind of plan the employer chooses to offer in order to comply with the paid sick leave law. In general, all employees who work at least 30 days for the same employer within a year in California—including part-time, per diem, temp employees and in-home supportive services providers—are covered by the new sick leave law, with some exceptions. To qualify for sick leave, workers must satisfy a 90-day employment period before taking any of that leave.
of the workplace. How an employer leads impacts the people who work for them. Employers need to pay attention to this, because their personality and their expectations set the tone for everyone who works for them. Workplaces are never perfect, but in a great work environment there is much less bad behavior.” Krug says it’s vitally important that employers have clear and consistently applied policies. “I realize that is difficult because there have been a lot of changes in COVID safety requirements, which prompted folks to work from home in the first place, and now with the updated sick pay requirements. Employers must decide their stance on the type of employer they want to be—to allow work on-site only, remote-work only or hybrid work. Each of these requires different policies that need to be communicated clearly to the employees.” Here to stay In the food production and hospitality environment of Seppi’s bakery and restaurant, he says they deal so much with the general public that he encourages employees to keep themselves healthy “so they can come to work and tend to our guests’ needs.” As Seppi points out: “In our line of work it’s gross to spread germs.” J
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34 NorthBaybiz
February 2024
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