IRS Mileage Rate Down a Half Cent Effective January 1, 2020 The Internal Revenue Service has announced its 2020 optional standard mileage reimbursement rate for employee business use of a personal vehicle, effective January 1, 2020, decreasing from 58 to 57.5 cents. These rates stem from annual government studies of fixed and variable automotive operating […]
Higher Workplace Standards to Assist Lactating Moms Since 2002, California has required employers to provide their lactating employees with reasonable time and adequate space to express breast milk. Effective January 1, 2020, Senate Bill (SB) 142 requires a clean, private and safe workplace location for the activity and a written lactation accommodation policy. Significant penalties […]
Longer Three-Year Deadline For Initiating Discrimination Claims Targets of workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation prohibited by California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) now have three years (up from the previous one year) to file a claim with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against the subject employer. A person claiming such wrongful […]
Arbitration is a form of private dispute resolution that takes the place of a lawsuit and court trial. Arbitration has many business-related advantages, including a more efficient, less-public process than the often-prolonged procedures of the court. Thus, employers often favor this alternative. California Labor Code section 432.6, effective January 1, 2020 as part of Assembly […]
On January 1, 2020, California minimum wage will increase to $12.00 for small employers with 25 or fewer employees and to $13.00 per hour for larger employers with 26 or more employees. These rates continue to increase annually until they reach $15.00 per hour in 2022 for larger employers and in 2023 for those with […]
California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from overtime compensation if they receive set minimum hourly compensation. Effective January 1, 2020, the California Department of Industrial Relations is increasing the minimum from $82.72 to $84.79 per hour, effective January 1, 2020. To avoid California’s requirements to pay overtime premium rates after eight hours worked in a day […]
Barring Successful Court Challenge, Federal Overtime Exemption Will Require Higher Salaries January 1, 2020 In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a “Final Rule” more than doubling the minimum salary amounts for certain workers – administrative, executive, and professional, employees, as well as “highly compensated employees” (HCE) to qualify for overtime exemption under […]
Real Estate Agent Exemptions From Stringent Limits on Independent Contractor Status New Labor Code 2750.3(d), effective January 1, 2020 as part of Assembly Bill (AB) 5, exempts real estate licensees, regulated under the Business & Professions Code (B&P), from the strict Dynamex ABC test for independent contractor classification. See, Dodging the Bullet (October 2019). Labor […]
Expanded State Approval Powers Over “Baby” Entertainers California has long regulated the “employment” of infants in the movies. Labor Code 1308.8 bans babies under 15-days old while requiring physician certification for our “older” new arrivals (aged 15-days to “under one month”) to work on any “motion picture set or location.” Beginning January, 2020, Assembly Bill […]
The Referral Agency Exception To California’s Strict Independent Contractor Definition When new Labor Code section 2750.3(g) goes into effect on January 1, 2020 as part of Assembly Bill (AB) 5, certain types of referral agencies may be able to avoid classifying associated service providers as employees under the uber-strict Dynamex ABC standards. See, California’s Independent […]