Are you up to speed on the new laws that you will be required to follow as an employer? Here's the scoop from the California Chamber of Commerce:

The following is a list of new laws that have recently gone into effect or will take effect in 2007:

Discrimination
SB 1441
Adds sexual orientation to existing classifications protected from discrimination by recipients of state funds and expands the definition of discrimination to include the perception that the victim is a member of a protected class.

Employment
AB 546
Outlaws the use of state-owned or state-leased computers by government officials or employees to access obscene materials.

SB 1759
Establishes requirements for background checks of certain administrators, executives and employees in the health care industry, and a process for transmission of fingerprint images.

Health and Safety
AB 2067
Extends and clarifies the prohibition on smoking in the workplace.

AB 409
Immediately authorizes suspension of the license of a cosmetologist, barber, estheticians, manicurist, and electrologist if required to protect the public health and safety. Provides a means for temporary stay and appeal of the suspension.

AB 881
Requires all roofing contractors to have workers’ compensation insurance, whether or not having current employees.

SB 1613
Effective July 1, 2008, limits the use of cell phones while driving to those having hands-free operation except for contacts with law enforcement and public safety agencies and certain commercial vehicles for whom the effective date is July 1, 2011.

Until July 1, 2011, this prohibition does not apply to a person driving a motor truck or truck tractor, an agricultural vehicle, tow truck, or a commercial vehicle, when using a digital 2-way radio service that utilizes a wireless telephone that operates by depressing a push-to-talk feature as long as it does not require immediate proximity to the user’s ear.

The law does not apply to a person driving a school bus or transit vehicle that is subject to certain existing wireless telephone usage restrictions, or to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.

Sexual Harassment
AB 2095
Limits mandated sexual harassment training to supervisors located in California.

State Government
AB 3058
Directs development of a web-based small business handbook on emergency preparedness.

AB 1302
Amends the process by which state government agencies can create and impose emergency regulations and the duration of the period during which emergency regulations can remain in effect.

SB 1436
Requires state agencies to improve their communication regarding regulations and assistance with the business community, with an emphasis on small business.

SB 1827
Permits registered domestic partners to file joint state income tax and have their earnings treated as community property on a par with married couples.

SB 1428
Permits payroll services companies in the motion picture industry to be treated as the employer for purposes of unemployment tax filings and responsibility.

AB 2293
Penalizes an educational employer that submits willfully false statements about a worker’s employment or termination to the Employment Development Department.

Wages
AB 2613
Establishes conditions for a state overtime exemption for teachers in private educational institutions.

SB 1468
This law extends the repeal date of the Car Wash Industry compliance program from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2010.

SB 1719
Permits employers and unions in the entertainment industry to establish conditions for payment of final paychecks by collective bargaining.

AB 1835
Increases California’s minimum wage and exempt salary standards for all California employers.

This law increases the California minimum wage to $7.50 per hour on January 1, 2007, and to $8 per hour on January 1, 2008.

AB 2095
Permits reporting of overtime hours on the same payroll date as the hours are paid when overtime is paid in the payroll period subsequent to the one in which it is earned.

Wage Deductions
AB 2440
Imposes a penalty on an employer that assists an employee or contractor with child support obligations evade meeting those obligations, including failure to file reports upon hiring.

Workers’ Compensation
AB 1368
Excludes public safety employees from the presumption that medical apportionment applied to certain specified job-related illnesses or injuries.

AB 2068
Permits pre-designation of a medical group as the primary treating physician and extends the sunset date of the right of pre-designation.

AB 2292
Provides for payment of workers’ compensation death benefits to the estate of the deceased worker. Labor Code Section 4706.5 requires workers' compensation death benefits to be paid to the California State Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) if the employee does not leave surviving any person entitled to a dependency death benefit.

For more information about the new laws.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive