A slew of new California employment laws were passed in 2024, many late in the year, and these new laws mandate changes to employer practices and policies, including updates to employee handbooks, as well as protocols, employment applications, job postings and job descriptions and related documents. In addition, management should be apprised of these legislative updates to ensure ongoing compliance (for instance, in recruiting, screening and interviewing candidates). Below is a summary of several key changes (all of which are effective Jan. 1, 2025, unless otherwise indicated).
- Minimum Wage Levels: The minimum wage in California is increasing to $16.50 per hour; higher minimum wages apply to fast food restaurant and specified health care facility workers. In addition, various localities have higher minimum wages that will be increasing in the new year, including San Diego ($17.25 per hour) and San Jose ($17.95), among many others. Action Items: Review employee wage rates to ensure compliance with local requirements. Also ensure that you understand the subtleties of the local minimum wage requirements; for instance, employees who perform at least two hours of work in a particular week within the City of Los Angeles are entitled to be paid the Los Angeles minimum wage and receive sick time benefits for time worked in the City of Los Angeles, regardless of their city of residence or standard work location.
- Exempt Employee Salary Thresholds: While the July 2024 and January 2025 federal salary thresholds were struck down recently by a Texas federal court, California’s salary thresholds are higher and will increase in 2025. By way of example, the salary threshold for the white collar exemptions (administrative, executive and professional) will rise to $68,640 per year. As a reminder, the salary threshold is just that—a threshold; employees still must meet the “duties” requirements of the applicable exemption under California law. Action Items: Review employee compensation to ensure compliance. For employees who might currently be misclassified as exempt, the salary threshold increase provides an opportunity to assess and correct any potential classification issues.
- Limitation on Driver’s License Requirements (SB 1100; Government Code section 12940): Employers will be prohibited under the Fair Employment and Housing Act from including in job postings, advertisements, applications and related materials the requirement that applicants hold a driver’s license unless the employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the job functions for the position and reasonably believes that using an alternate form of transportation (such as biking or using a ride-hailing service or public transportation) to fulfill the functions would not be comparable in terms of travel time or cost to the employer. Action Items: For roles as to which driver’s licenses are currently required, assess whether the need is related to job functions and, if so, whether alternative transportation methods would be feasible. Document the basis for any determination that a driver’s license will be required. Update job descriptions, postings, application forms and applicable policies accordingly and ensure that interviewers are aware of this new law.
- “Intersectional” Harassment and Discrimination (SB 1137; Civil Code section 51 and Government Code section 12926): California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Unruh Civil Rights Act have been amended to encompass “intersectionality,” meaning different forms of harassment and discrimination that may operate together to exacerbate prejudice and harm. These laws now provide that two or more bases for discrimination or harassment may be combined to create a cause of action. In other words, for instance, an individual may assert a claim of harassment based on being a “Black woman,” rather than just being Black or a woman. (This also applies to “perceived as” claims, which can now be based on a perception that an individual had a combination of protected characteristics and associational discrimination claims, i.e., harassment or discrimination based on association with an individual who has a combination of protected characteristics.) Action Items: Ensure that handbooks, policies (including those related to harassment and EEO) and training materials are updated to reflect this new concept and that managers and HR representatives are trained on it.
- Race Discrimination (AB 1815; Civil Code section 51 and Government Code section 12926): The definition of “race” in the Fair Employment and Housing Act has been expanded to include traits associated with race beyond hair texture and protective hairstyles. Specifically, “race” is now inclusive of “traits associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hairstyles,” which is defined to include such things as braids, locs and twists. (And the phrase no longer refers to traits “historically” associated with race.) These definitions have been incorporated into the Unruh Civil Rights Act as well. Action Items: Ensure that handbooks, policies (including those related to harassment and EEO) and training materials are updated to reflect this new concept and that managers and HR representatives are trained on it.
- Local Enforcement of Discrimination Claims (SB 1340; Government Code section 12993): Local governments are being given authority to enforce local anti-discrimination laws that are at least as protective as state laws. Action Items: Ensure that handbooks, policies (including those related to discrimination/harassment and EEO) and training materials are updated to reflect that local agencies can enforce local laws. Confirm that company policies and practices take into account any local anti-discrimination laws that may be more stringent than federal or state law.
- Expanded Bases for Protected Paid Sick Leave (SB 616/AB 2499; Government Code section 12945.8): Protected paid sick leave under California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act will be available to employees who are victims, or whose family members are victims, of a “qualifying act of violence” (QAV), which includes domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or other acts, conduct or pattern of conduct that includes bodily injury or death to an individual, brandishing or using firearms or other dangerous weapons, or threats of force to cause physical injury or death, as more particularly defined in applicable law. Protected leave does not require that the perpetrator be arrested, prosecuted or convicted with respect to the QAV. Employees also may use accrued vacation, personal leave, paid sick leave or other paid time off to seek medical care or obtain services for themselves and family members. Leave can be deemed to run concurrently with other protected leaves and may be time-limited as outlined in the statute. Covered employers (i.e., those with 25 or more employees) will be prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against an employee who is a victim, or who has a family member who is a victim, of a QAV for taking protected time off.
These and existing protections (including witness and jury duty leave) will now be under the aegis of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, meaning that the rights. can be enforced through the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). The CRD will publish a form notice to employees of these protections by July 1, 2025; employers will be required to provide this form or a similar notice (i) to new employees upon hire; (ii) to all employees annually; (iii) at any time upon request; and (iv) upon learning that the employee or a family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence. Action Items: Update applicable policies, including paid sick leave, leave for victims of crime and abuse, and other time off policies, and modify internal practices accordingly. Ensure that policies allow for concurrent designation of protected leave periods. The QAV concept should also be added as a protected characteristic in EEO and anti-harassment/discrimination policies. Monitor the CRD website to obtain the model notice and, once issued, implement protocols to ensure timely notice of employee rights to new hires and existing employees.
- Paid Family Leave (AB 2123; Unemployment Insurance Code section 3303.1): Employers will no longer be able to require employees to utilize up to two weeks of accrued paid time off/vacation before receiving paid family leave (PFL) benefits from the state (or employer-approved plan). Action Item: Update applicable policies and internal practices.
- Ban on “Captive Audience” Meetings regarding Politics (including Anti-Union Topics) and Religion (SB 399; Labor Code section 1137): The new “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act” prohibits employers from mandating employee attendance at meetings that address political or religious matters, including topics relating to (among other things) religious affiliation and practices, elections for political office, political parties, legislation and regulations, union representation and labor organizations. This new law prohibits employers from discharging or discriminating or retaliating against (or threatening to take such actions against) employees who decline to participate in such meetings or to receive or listen to communications regarding the employer’s opinions on such matters. Employees who choose to work rather than attend such meetings must be paid at their normal rate of compensation. This law does not impact mandatory training, such as that related to workplace safety or discrimination and harassment prevention. Violations of the law can result in $500 penalty per employee for each violation, and employees can bring civil actions for damages (including punitive damages). Action Items: Ensure that managers are familiar with these new restrictions. Assess planned meeting topics to determine whether they could be encompassed within this law.
- Whistleblower Protection Posting (AB 2299; Labor Code sections 98.11 and 1102.8): Labor Code section 1102.8 requires employers to post employee rights and responsibilities under California’s whistleblower laws. Employers posting the model posting prepared by the Labor Commissioner (available here: Whistleblowers are Protected) in the designated manner (e.g., prominently displayed in an area frequented by employees where it may be easily read during the workday, in font larger than 14-point, etc.) will be deemed to be in compliance with the posting requirements. Action Item: Ensure that the model posting is appropriately displayed with other legally required postings.
- Other Required Postings: As noted above, various other required postings have been implemented and others have been updated for 2025, including minimum wage, workers’ compensation rights and time off for qualifying acts of violence, jury duty and witness service, among others. Action Item: Review and update postings as needed.
- Independent Contractor/Freelance Worker Protections (SB 988; Business & Professions Code sections 18100–18107): While the “Freelance Worker Protection Act” (FWPA) does not change the applicable test for determining independent contractor classification, it does impose new requirements with respect to agreements with freelancer independent contractors who are providing “professional services” (including, among other things, human resources administration, marketing, grant writing, graphic design, photography/videography and editing and appraisal services) for $250 or more over a 120-day period. Specifically, agreements must be in writing (and maintained for no less than four years), and contain the following: (i) each party’s name and address; (ii) an itemized list of all services that will be provided; (iii) the date the hiring party will pay, or a description of how that date will be calculated; and (iv) the date and procedure by which the freelance worker will submit a list of services rendered/invoice. Payment must be made by the date specified in the contract or, if no specific date is listed, no later than 30 days after the worker completes the services. The FWPA prohibits hiring parties from, as a condition of timely payment, requiring freelancers to accept less than the contracted-for amount, provide additional goods or services, or grant additional intellectual property rights to the hiring entity. The FWPA also prohibits discrimination and retaliation for opposition to practices made unlawful by the Act. Violation can result in civil penalties, as well as the contractor’s actual damages, liquidated damages (two times amounts due but unpaid) and attorneys’ fees and costs. Action Items: For independent contractors who meet the definition of “freelancer” under the FWPA, ensure that proper agreements are prepared, if not already in place. This also provides an opportunity to assess whether contractors are properly classified as such and to remedy any improper classification (preferably in conjunction with legal counsel).
This document is intended to provide you with general information regarding new labor and employment laws in California. The contents of this document are not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about the contents of this document or if you need legal advice as to an issue, please contact the attorneys listed or your regular Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP attorney. This communication may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions. The information in this article is accurate as of the publication date. Because the law in this area is changing rapidly, and insights are not automatically updated, continued accuracy cannot be guaranteed.