3.   New Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Form Required.

 

As of December 26, 2007, Employers not using the new Form I-9 are subject to penalties.  The new Form I-9 is available for download at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.

 

4.   New IRS Mileage Reimbursement Rate.

The standard mileage reimbursement rate is now 50 cents per mile for business miles driven.  California law obligates employers to reimburse employees for the business the use of their personal vehicle.  The California state agency that handles such matters announced that the IRS mileage allowance is presumed to satisfy the state's expenses reimbursement requirement unless the employee can prove that a larger sum is necessary.

5.   Hands Free Cell Phones While Driving (SB 1613).

Beginning July 1, 2008, drivers may not use cell phones while driving without a hands-free device.  This offense is punishable by a fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.

This new law impacts a very wide segment of workers who are in the field and expected to remain in contact with the office, coworkers and customers.  Employers must be especially careful not to discipline or otherwise pressure employees into violating this requirement.  All managers and supervisors should be trained on how this law impacts their ability to direct the workforce because we envision employee claims by employees fired when they refused to succumb to pressure to ignore the new law.

The effective date of the new law is postponed to July 1, 2011 for people driving a motor truck or truck tractor, an agricultural vehicle, a tow truck or a commercial vehicle when using a digital 2-way radio service that utilizes so-called "push to talk" wireless transmission and the phone does not require immediate proximity to the user's ear.

6.   Workplace Violence Restraining Orders (AB 2695).

It has become easier for employers to obtain a workplace violence restraining order.  Often, an employee victim is reluctant to file for a restraining order.  The new law authorizes employers to obtain a restraining order without the consent or participation of the victim if the employer reasonably believes there is a credible threat of violence against others in the workplace.

7.   Deadbeat Dads (AB 2440).

New penalties may be imposed on employers who don't cooperate in an investigation into child support issues.  The law creates penalties of up to three times the amount of the child support assistance where an employer knew or should have known that the individual has a child support obligation and fails to report the individual's hire date, employment, and/or wages to the California Employment Development Department.

8.   Pharmacists/Alternative Workweek Schedules (SB 812).

Pharmacy owners may establish longer workdays without having to pay the state's mandatory daily overtime when specified conditions are met.

9.   Military Spouse Leave (AB 392).

Employers with 25+ employees must allow a military spouse to take a 10 day leave of absence to spend time with their servicemember spouse on leave from military service, (Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves). To be eligible for this leave, the employee: (i) must work an average of 20 or more hours per week; (ii) must be married to a servicemember deployed during a period of military conflict to an area designated as a combat theater or zone; and (iii) the servicemember is on leave from deployment.

Note:  Employers may not refuse the leave and may not retaliate against an eligible employee for requesting or using these rights.  We recommend that all managers and supervisors be trained on the requirements of this new law so that they do not unwittingly refuse the leave or say something that could be used later on as evidence of an illegal intent to interfere with or deny the leave.  In addition, employee handbooks should be updated to include a policy on this important new right.

10.   Computer Professionals (SB 929).

The minimum hourly wage for the computer professional overtime exemption was lowered from $49.77 to $36.00 per hour.  Caution:  The rule only applies to a select group of highly skilled computer professionals such as computer programmers, systems analysts, applications programmers and software engineers. We recommend that you carefully review such positions with your contact at the firm.  Because of the high pay rates, these cases can become very expensive if an employee is erroneously treated as overtime exempt and then works a lot of overtime.

This new law enlarges the period that an employee on workers comp leave may draw disability benefits.  Though the new law does not change the total number of weeks of benefits that an employee may draw (104 weeks), it enlarges the period of time in which the claim may be open from 2 years to 5 years.

12.   Privacy Breach Notification Rules Expanded (AB 1298).

Existing law requires employers to notify employees in writing whenever there has been unauthorized access to certain data (an individual's name in combination with such personal information as social security numbers, driver's license numbers, or credit card numbers).  The new law adds "medical information" and "health insurance information" to the list.  This means that a privacy beach notice must be provided any time an employer has reason to believe that medical or health insurance information has been accessed by an unauthorized person.

The term "Medical Information" is defined broadly as "any information regarding an individual's medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care professional."  The term "Health Insurance Information" is defined to include "an individual's health insurance policy number or subscriber information number, any unique identifier used by a health insurer to identify the individual, or any information in an individual's application and claims history, including any appeals records."

The new law also beefs up the protections in California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act to provide that any business maintaining medical information is subject to the same civil and criminal penalties as doctors and hospitals who mishandle medical information.

13.   Health Care "Whistleblowers" (AB 632).