A new year brings with it new labor laws. California employers will want to start reviewing employee policies and handbooks early, so they are adequately prepared to comply with these new laws when most of them go into effect on January 1, 2023.
AB 1041 (Application of the definition of “family” in relation to medical leaves)
This revision provides eligible employees up to 12 work weeks in a 12-month period to take unpaid family care and medical leave, with relatives including spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchilds, siblings, and common-law partners. The legislature added a “designee” to this list of “family members”, which includes individuals related by blood or with an association equivalent to a family relationship.
AB 1949 (Revision to bereavement licenses)
Under this new law, eligible employees can request up to five days of leave for the death of a qualifying family member. Statutory bereavement leave is unpaid, but the employer should be able to use accrued and unused paid vacation, leave, or other paid time off for this purpose.
SB 1162 (Posting Pay Ranges for Candidates and Contract Employees)
SB 1162 amends Government Code section 12999 and Labor Code section 432.3 to require, in addition to the current requirement that an employer must provide all applicants with a salary range, the employer must also provide existing employees with a salary range. salary range upon request.
AB 2188 (Protection of Cannabis Use Outside of Work)
Section AB 2188 adds section 12954 to the Government Code, prohibiting employers from discriminating against a person for the use of cannabis outside of work, with some exceptions. Employers can take action against an individual who fails a pre-employment drug test, or other employer-required drug test, that “does not detect non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites.”