JASON RESNICK | WG VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL AGRICULTURE & THE LAW
New California Employment Laws for 2018 On January 1, 2018, a number of new employment laws will take effect in California. These laws will have a significant impact on California employers and companies with operations in the state. Prompt action will need to be taken to ensure compliance, including revising employment policies and practices such as hiring and compensation practices, employee handbooks, and notices. Below is a summary of many of the laws that affect agricultural employers. All are effective January 1, 2018, unless otherwise noted. WAGE & HOUR New Minimum Wage and Salary for White Collar Exemptions
whether the Wage Order 14 exemptions from overtime (e.g., for irrigators and truck drivers, among others) remain in place for now or whether they sunset in 2019 when the overtime phase-in begins. However, most practitioners agree that ag’s exemption from the requirement to provide employees with one day’s rest in seven was eliminated by AB 1066 on Jan. 1, 2017. Western Growers, in conjunction with other industry organizations, is seeking clarification by state regulators and cleanup legislation, if necessary. In Mendoza v. Nordstrom, the California Supreme Court ruled that the required “day of rest” is measured by the workweek as defined by the employer, and not on a 7-day rolling calendar basis. The court agreed the law allows a limited exception for part-employees who work no more than six hours a day and not more than 30 hours in a workweek. The court further clarified that employees may voluntarily decide to work more than six days in seven, after the employees have been informed of their right to take a day of rest and may take it free from coercion. prohibit an employer or any person acting on an employer’s behalf from providing voluntary consent to an immigration enforcement agent to enter a nonpublic area of business without a warrant. The new law also prohibits an employer from providing consent to an immigration enforcement agent to access, review or obtain the employer’s employee records without a subpoena or judicial warrant. Importantly, the prohibition does not apply to I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms and other documents for which a Notice of Inspection has been provided to the employer. Labor Code section 1019.2 prohibits an employer from reverifying the employment eligibility of a current employee at Immigration Worker Protection Act New Government Code sections 7285.1 and 7285.2
When Governor Brown signed SB 3 into effect in 2016, he set California on course for a $15 minimum wage by 2022. The next phase-in sets the minimum wage at $11.00 an hour, up from $10.50 per hour, as of January 1, 2018 for businesses with 26 or more employees. Smaller businesses jump to $10.50 per hour. The increased minimum wage also increases the minimum salary that must be paid to meet the so called “white collar” exemptions (i.e., executive, administrative, and professional). For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum salary under California law is $45,760 per year as of January 1, 2018. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the minimum salary under California law is $43,680 per year as of January 1, 2018. In addition, nine cities and counties have set their own minimum wages higher than the state’s minimum, including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose, among others. Some municipalities including Los Angeles and Berkeley have even enacted paid sick leave ordinances that exceed state law requirements. Make sure to check whether or not the cities or counties where your employees work have such ordinances. will gradually lower the daily and weekly hours of work thresholds for paying overtime to agricultural employees starting in 2019 for ag employers with 26 or more employees and by 2022 for smaller operations. AB 1066 directs the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to update Industrial Wage Commission Wage Order 14 (which governs agriculture) to make it consistent with the new law. However, to date, DIR has not updated the wage order. As a result, it is unclear Ag Overtime In 2016, Governor Brown signed AB 1066 into law, which
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JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2018
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