of the definitions of: “child” to remove prior age limits and disability requirements and include the child of a domestic partner; “family care and medical leave” to include leave to care for grandparent, grandchildren, sibling and qualify exigencies relating to covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child or parent who is a member of the Armed Forces. The statute also removes the mileage requirement for employees located “within 75 miles of the worksite where that employee is employed” and the previous exception for highly paid “key employees.” AB 2143: Settlement Agreement No-hire Provisions Existing law prevents an employer from including a “no-hire” provision in settlement agreements except where the employer has made a good faith determination that the aggrieved person engaged in sexual harassment or sexual assault. A no-hire provision is a contractual clause prohibiting the aggrieved person from obtaining future employment with the settling employer. AB 2143 revises the existing no-hire standard by expanding the provisions exceptions to include a determination that the aggrieved individual engaged in any criminal conduct. The statute also includes a requirement that in order for the no-hire provision to apply, the
employee must have filed their claim of sexual harassment or assault in good faith and the employer has documented its determination of sexual harassment or assault before the aggrieved individual filed their claim. State Minimum Wage Increase Beginning January 1, 2021, the state minimum wage increases to $14.00 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees. The rate is $13.00 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 $58,240 for large employers and $54,080 for smaller employers. Also, more than two dozen cities and counties have their own minimum wage that exceeds the state wage, and many of those will also increase on January 1 or summer of 2021. Some cities apply their elevated wage rate to employees that don’t even live or work fulltime in the city. The City of Los Angeles, for example, defines “employee” to mean any individual who in any particular week performs at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles for any employer. The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), payable to H-2A workers and others in “corresponding employment” remains $14.77 in California for 2021, thanks to the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule updating the methodology for determining the annual AEWRs. Under the new rule, the AEWR would not have changed
until 2023, creating a wage freeze for 2021 and 2022 for a vast majority of agricultural jobs. However, a lawsuit filed by the UFW challenging the final rule has resulted in a court issuing a preliminary injunction and an order requiring the DOL and UFW to work together on establishing new AEWRs for 2021 based on the Farm Labor Survey. Ag Overtime Reminder that beginning January 1, 2021, for employers with 26 or more employees, the threshold for paying overtime for agricultural employees under IWC Wage Order 14 is after 8.5 hours per day or 45 hours per week. This change could also affect the minimum amount of paid sick leave employees must be granted. For employers that provide a front-loaded annual grant of paid sick leave, the amount front-loaded must generally be 24 hours or 3 days of paid leave at the beginning of each year or 12-month period. However, for employees who regularly work more than 8 hours a day, they must receive 3 times their regular number of daily work hours at the beginning of the year. Therefore, employers must grant ag employees who work 8.5-hour shifts with 25.5 hours of paid sick leave. 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.
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WINEGRAPE CROP INSURANCE DEADLINES November 20, 2020 (Other States) January 31, 2021 (California)
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