Salary History Existing law prohibits employers from inquiring about an applicant’s salary history and requires employers to provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant upon request. AB 2282 amends the Labor Code to clarify that: • Employers can consider salary history information disclosed voluntarily and without prompting; • Employers may ask about an applicant’s salary expectations for the position they applied for; • Only applicants other than current employees may request and receive the pay scale for a position, and only after completing an initial interview; and • The pay scale provided only needs to include salary or hourly wage ranges (not bonuses or equity ranges). In addition, employers may make compensation decisions based on a current employee’s existing salary if justified by one or more factors such as a seniority system, merit system, system that measures production, or a bona fide factor other than race or ethnicity, such as education, training or experience. Paid Family Leave AB 2587 removes the seven-day waiting period before an employee is eligible to receive Paid Family Leave wage replacement benefits to take time off to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child. Western Growers members are encouraged to review their existing employment practices and employee handbooks, and to make all necessary updates to ensure compliance with the new laws.
compliance if it provides an employee with a private, enclosed, and shaded space (e.g., an air-conditioned cab of a truck or tractor) to express milk. Human Trafficking Notice AB 2034 requires specified businesses, including farm labor contractors , to post a compliant notice regarding human trafficking in a conspicuous location in clear view of the public and employees where similar notices are customarily posted and to conduct employee training. Businesses subject to this posting requirement must comply starting January 1, 2019, and may use the model notice that is available for download on the State of California Department of Justice’s website. Ag Overtime AB 1066 , which was signed into law in 2016, will gradually reduce the standard 60 workweek in agriculture to eight hours in a day and 40 hours in a workweek, over a four-year period. Beginning January 1, 2019, the requirement to pay overtime will kick in after an agricultural employee works 9.5 hours in a day or 55 hours in a workweek. The change applies to only those employers who employ 26 or more employees. Employers who employ 25 or fewer will be subjected to these new requirements on January 1, 2022, with an 8/40 workweek phased in over four years. While the Department of Industrial Relations has not, as of this writing, received final approval from the Office of Administrative Law to update Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order 14 (which covers wages and working conditions for agricultural employees), the updated wage order is expected to eliminate the overtime exemption for irrigators working for large employers on January 1, 2019. State Minimum Wage Increase The state minimum wage is set to increase to $12.00 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees. The rate is $11.00 for employers with 25 employees or fewer. The minimum salary under the white collar overtime exemption test is two times the state minimum wage or $49,920. Also, there are about 25 cities and counties that have their own minimum wage, and many of those will also increase on January 1, 2019. The Adverse Effect Wage Rate , payable to H-2A workers and others in “corresponding employment” is expected to increase to $13.92 in California, $12.00 in Arizona, and $13.13 in Colorado and New Mexico, respectively. Feed Truck Drivers AB 2610 provides a limited meal break exception for commercial drivers transporting commercial feed to customers in remote rural areas, and authorizes them to commence the meal period after six hours of work under certain conditions. To qualify, the driver must be transporting nutrients and byproducts from a licensed commercial feed manufacturer to a customer located in a “remote rural location” and the driver must be paid at least 1.5 times the state minimum wage and receive overtime compensation as required by law. In addition, the driver must be provided a second meal period at the tenth hour of work in a day. Payroll Records Existing law allows employees to “inspect or copy” their personnel records. SB 1252 makes clear that employers must furnish copies of personnel files, wage statements and other employment-related records to employees, not just provide the employee the opportunity to make their own copies.
Schedule of California MinimumWage Rate Increases
Per Hour
$16.00
$15.50
Businesses with 26 or more employees Businesses with 25 or fewer employees
$15.00
$14.50
$14.00
$13.50
$13.00
$12.50
$12.00
$11.50
$11.00
$10.50
$10.00
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Year beginning January 1 st
34 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019
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