Here are new laws, regulations and rules that may impact your business in 2016:

Here is a rundown:

Minimum wage

California’s minimum wage rises to $10 in 2016, due to legislation that was approved two years ago. Keep in mind that nonexempt employees must earn at least twice the state minimum wage.

Fair Pay Act

This law, meant to protect against workplace discrimination, requires employers to show that pay differences for similar jobs must be the result of a “bona fide factor other than sex,” like education and seniority. Legal experts have differing opinions over whether Senate Bill 358 will amount to material changes for a given company.

School leave

This law provides employees with unpaid time off to find a school or childcare provider. Senate Bill 579 gives employees up to eight hours per month and up to 40 total hours in a calendar year to enroll a child in school or childcare, or address a school-related emergency. The law only applies to companies with 25 or more employees.

Leeway on pay-stub errors

This law gives employers 33 days to correct a minor violation on a pay stub (like a name misspelling) before an employee can sue. Before Assembly Bill 1506, employees could file representative action against an employer for any labor code violation.

Wage theft

This law gives the California Labor Commissioner the right to go after the property of employers found guilty of withholding wages from their employees. Senate Bill 588 authorizes the Labor Commissioner to file a lien against an employer’s property if the business owner declines to purchase a $50,000 wage bond after he or she is found guilty of wage theft.

Grocery store workers

Assembly Bill 359 gives grocery-store workers 90 days of job protection after an ownership change.

Franchisees

Corporate chains can no longer fire franchisees unless they substantially breach their contract. Assembly Bill 524 represented a deal cut between franchisees and franchisors.

 

California employers must also keep in mind that the minimum salary required for exempt status is directly tied to the minimum wage. Today the current minimum salary required for exemption is $37,440. The language in Labor Code Section 515 reads, in part, “The Industrial Welfare Commission may establish exemptions from the requirement that an overtime rate of compensation be paid…, and earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment.” This means when the minimum wage increases so will the minimum salary required for exemption. Beginning January 1, 2016 the new minimum salary required will be $41,600.   It is imperative to understand and remember that paying the minimum salary alone itself will not qualify a position for exempt status, there are also duties and time spent tests that must be met. In addition, all tests must be met in order to qualify for exempt status. This means if a company has positions that currently meet all the tests for exempt status but do not raise salaries to reflect the appropriate minimum salary required for exemption outlined previously those positions will revert to non-exempt status making them overtime eligible.

 

Restaurants:

 
 New state & local laws affecting restaurants in 2016 
AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2015
 
The above have been identified as some of the new laws most directly affecting restaurateurs. Not all the above may affect every restaurateur, and there may be other new laws not listed above that may affect some restaurateurs. The above are only brief summaries and do not constitute legal advice. Please consult your attorney, accountant or other appropriate professional as needed. Unless specified, all new legislation going into effect January 1, 2016. 
State Law  /Author Subject Description 
AB 10 (Alejo) *Passed in 2013
 
Minimum wage: annual adjustment
 
AB 10 was signed into law by Governor Brown in 2013 increasing 
the state’s minimum wage in two phases. The first increase, from 
$8 to $9, took place on July 1, 2014. The second increase is set to go from $9 to $10 starting on January 1, 2016.
 
AB 525 (Holden) Franchise relations: renewal and termination California Franchise Relations Act: amends the existing act and sets forth new and additional requirements related to the termination, non-renewal, and transfer of franchises between a franchisor, sub-franchisor, and franchisee. AB 622 (Hernandez, R.) Employment: E-Verify limitations Beginning on Jan. 1, 2016, this law will limit the use of the E-Verify employment eligibility verification system by prohibiting employers from using it in a manner not prescribed by federal law. 
Employers must provide an employee with the “tentative non
-c
onforming” (TNC) notice. The law establishes a penalty of up to 
$10,000 per violation for unlawful use of the E-Verify system. AB 662 (Bonilla) Public accommodations: adult changing facilities Requires an auditorium, convention center, cultural complex, exhibition hall, permanent amusement park, sports arena, theater, or movie house that has a capacity of at least 2,500 people and is constructed on or after Jan. 1, 2020, or renovated on or after Jan. 1, 2025 to install and maintain at least one adult changing station within an enclosed space. AB 970 (Nazarian) Labor Commissioner: enforcement of employee claims Allows the state Labor Commissioner to enforce local labor laws. AB 1506 (Hernandez, R.) *effective as of 10.2.2015 Wage statements: limited right-to-cure Limits frivolous and costly litigation against employers for technical violations on a wage statement. As long as the technical violation does not create injury to an employee, the employer would be granted a 33-day right-to-cure period before an individual may bring civil action.
 
AB 1521 (Cmte. on Judiciary) Disability access: construction-related accessibility claims Seeks to discourage frivolous suits by defining "high frequency filers" and increasing the filing fees imposed on those attorneys filing those lawsuits. The bill also requires new reports to the California Commission on Disability Access regarding the outcome of those suits and new notices to defendants explaining their rights in access litigation. AB 1826 (Chesbro) Solid waste: organic/food waste The law phases in the requirements on businesses over time based on the amount and type of waste the business produces on a weekly basis, with full implementation in 2019. Businesses that generate eight (8) cubic yards of organic waste (including food) per week shall arrange for organic waste recycling services starting 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The above have been identified as some of the new laws most directly affecting restaurateurs. Not all the above may affect every restaurateur, and there may be other new laws not listed above that may affect some restaurateurs. The above are only brief summaries and do not constitute legal advice. Please consult your attorney, accountant or other appropriate professional as needed. Unless specified, all new legislation going into effect January 1, 2016. 
Apr. 1, 2016. Businesses generating four (4) cubic yards of organic waste per week shall arrange for organic waste recycling services Jan. 1, 2017. SB 358 (Jackson) Conditions of employment: gender wage differential Prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than those paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work. The employer would be required to demonstrate that a wage differential is based upon one or more specified factors, including a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earning by quantity or quality of production, or a bona fide factor other than gender. Additionally, it prohibits an employer from prohibiting an employee from disclosing their wages, the wages of others, 
inquiring about other employee’s 
wages, or aiding or encouraging any other employee to exercise their rights under these provisions. SB 579 (Jackson) Employees: time off Existing law provides an employee who is a parent, guardian, or grandparent having custody of a child enrolled in a child day care facility or K-12 to take off up to 40 hours each year for purposes of participating in school activities. The law revises reference to a child day care facility to instead refer to a child care provider. It includes the addressing of a childcare provider emergency or a school emergency, as defined, and the finding, enrolling, or reenrolling of a child in a school or child care provider as activities for which a parent having custody of a child cannot be discriminated against or discharged. Additionally, the bill defines 
“parent” for these purposes as a parent, guardian
, step-parent, foster parent, grandparent, or a person who stands in loco parentis to a child, extending these protections to those defined above. SB 588 (De Leon) Nonpayment of wages: Labor Commissioner:  judgement enforcement Provides the Labor Commissioner with expanded authority in order to enforce judgments against an employer arising from the 
employer’s non
-payment of wages for work performed in the state. 
If a final judgment against an employer’s non
-payment of wages remains unsatisfied 30 days after the appeal expired, the employer cannot continue to conduct business in the state unless they have obtained a bond from a surety company. Additionally, the Labor Commissioner may create a lien on any personal property in California of an employer that conducts business in violation of Section 238 of the Labor Code. Furthermore, any individual or business entity that, as part of its business, contracts for service in property services, is jointly and severally liable for any unpaid wages, including interest, where the individual or business entity has been notified of any proceeding or investigation by the Labor Commissioner. SB 623 (Lara) 
Workers’ 
compensation: benefits Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, employees are not excluded from receiving benefits under the Uninsured Employers Fund or the Subsequent Injuries Benefits Trust Fund based on his or her citizenship or immigration status.