As the year is coming to a close, we want to remind our valued clients about some new employment law requirements starting January 1, 2015, and to announce that Janice Miller has joined our firm as Of Counsel, so as to expand our corporate and business law services.
1) Posting requirement for California’s paid sick leave law
I’ve seen a lot of confusion in various articles regarding when employers need to post the new required poster for California’s paid sick leave law. Even though employers do not need to start offering paid sick leave until July 1, 2015, the poster requirement starts January 1. It is very easy to comply, you can simply download the one-page poster here, print it, and post it next to your company’s other posters.
2) New Notice to Employee required
In addition, starting January 1 employers should update the Notice to Employees that are required to be provided to all non-exempt employees. The new Notice to Employees can be downloaded here.
These first two requirements are very easy to comply with and I recommend that employers take steps to comply with these requirements prior to going out for their holiday vacations.
3) Drivers’ Licenses will be issued to undocumented workers starting January 1
The California DMV will begin issuing driver’s licenses to undocumented workers who cannot prove they have the right to be in the U.S. starting on January 1, 2015. These licenses will be marked with the term “federal limits apply” on the front of the license. Therefore, employers must be aware that these licenses cannot be used to establish eligibility to work when completing the Form I-9. Once the new licenses are issued, employers should make sure that H.R. and similar employees are familiar with which licenses can be used to verify eligibility to work in the U.S. when completing the I-9. In addition, the new law makes it illegal to discriminate against employees who present these licenses for employment purposes. Finally, employers must be aware that the new law also makes driver license information obtained by the employer “private and confidential.” Therefore, employers should take steps to ensure that this information is treated with the same safeguards as other confidential information, such as social security numbers.