State Employment Law Library Update

State Employment Law Library Update December 2013

California Background Checks

The state has amended its Civil Code with respect to consumer reports that may be used for employment purposes (Ch. 444 (S. 138), L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶5-23,604.23.

California Fair Employment Practices

The state has amended its Civil Code with respect to the privacy of medical information. The law defines additional terms in connection with maintaining the confidentiality of this information, including a "confidential communications request" which an insured, or a subscriber or enrollee under a health care service plan, may submit for the purpose of specifying the method for transmitting medical information communications (Ch. 444 (S. 138), L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶5-22,350.02.

California Minimum Wage

Living wage rate information for the following jurisdictions has been updated: Emeryville; Hayward; and Sebastopol. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-1000.

California Overtime

Effective January 1, 2014, a governing board of a school district or a county superintendent of schools may establish a 12-hour-per-day, 80-hour-per-2-week work schedule for school police departments, provided the work schedule is consented to in a valid collective bargaining agreement that contains: (1) express provisions for wages, hours of work, and working conditions for employees; (2) express provisions for meal periods and final and binding arbitration of disputes concerning application of the meal period provisions; (3) premium wage rates for overtime hours worked; and (4) a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage rate. The workweek would consist of seven work days, six of which are 12-hour days and one of which is an 8-hour day. Overtime must be paid for all hours worked in excess of the required workday, at a rate equal to one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate. The workweek must be defined so that no employee will be required to work more than 40 hours in any given workweek (Ch. 73 (A. 226), L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶5-44,111. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-1100.

California Posters

Two of the state’s unemployment posters (DE 1857A and DE 1857 A/S) have been updated, and the 2014 San Francisco Minimum Wage Poster has been added. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-9900.

California Unemployment Insurance

The contribution rate schedule in effect for 2014 will continue to be Schedule F+. This is Schedule F plus a 15% emergency surcharge, rounded to the nearest tenth. Schedule F+ provides for contribution rates ranging from 1.5% to 6.2%. The taxable wage base for 2014 for UI purposes remains at $7,000. The new employer rate will be 3.4%, and the Employment Training Tax rate remains at 0.1% for 2014. Note that the voluntary UI payment program is not in effect next year.

For 2014, the SDI employee contribution rate remains at 1.0%, and the taxable wage base increases to $101,636. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-1700.

California Wage Payment

In any action for nonpayment of wages, fringe benefits, or health and welfare or pension fund contributions, the court is to award reasonable attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party if any party to the action requests attorney's fees and costs upon the initiation of the action. However, effective January 1, 2014, if the prevailing party in the court action is not an employee, attorney's fees and costs are to be awarded only if the court finds that the employee brought the court action in bad faith (Ch. 142 (S. 462), L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶5-46,032. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-1200.

Also effective January 1, 2014, employers are prohibited from reporting or threatening to report an employee's, former employee's, or prospective employee's suspected citizenship or immigration status, or the suspected citizenship or immigration status of a family member of the employee, former employee, or prospective employee, to a federal, state, or local agency because the employee, former employee, or prospective employee exercises a right under the California Labor Code, the Government Code, or the Civil Code. Such actions constitute an adverse action for purposes of establishing a violation of an employee's, former employee's, or prospective employee's rights (Ch. 577 (S. 666), L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶5- 46,060ab. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶5-1200.

Colorado Minimum Wage

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor, has adopted Colorado Minimum Wage Order Number 30, 7 CCR 1103-1, to reflect the new state minimum wage of $8.00 per hour for 2014, pursuant to Article XVIII, Section 15, of the Colorado Constitution. Colorado Minimum Wage Order Number 30 increases the state minimum wage from $7.78 per hour to $8.00 per hour effective January 1, 2014. In addition, the state minimum wage for tipped employees is also increased from $4.76 per hour to $4.98 per hour on January 1, 2014 (a tip credit of no more than $3.02 per hour may be used to offset the minimum wage. Proposed Wage Order Number 30 was adopted without change (http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite? blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application %2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251890865671&ssbinar y=true). New posters are expected to become available once the new minimum wage goes into effect. Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶6-41,801a through ¶6-41,822a. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶6-1000.

Colorado Unemployment Insurance

The taxable wage base in Colorado for 2014 will be $11,700, up $400 from the 2013 taxable wage base amount of $11,300. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶6-1700.

Hawaii Same-Sex Marriage

Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie has signed into law a bill that will legalize marriage for same-sex couples in the State of Hawaii. The Governor signed Senate Bill 1, the “Hawaii Marriage Equality Act,” in a ceremony at the Hawaii Convention Center on November 13, 2013.

This new law recognizes marriages between individuals of the same sex and extends to same-sex couples the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities of marriage that opposite-sex couples receive.

The new law takes effect on December 2, 2013. Hawaii is now the 15th state in the nation to fully embrace marriage equity. Governor Abercrombie, a strong advocate for equal rights, signed legislation in 2011 that legalized civil unions, making Hawaii the seventh state to grant such privileges to same-sex couples.

In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that denied federal benefits to same-sex couples who were married under state law. The court’s decision means that same-sex couples who are married in states where it is legal can take advantage of tax breaks, pension rights and other benefits available to married couples (State of Hawaii, Office of the Governor, Press Release, November 13, 2013; S.B. 1, L. 2013). Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶12-3100 and ¶12-3200.

Illinois Same-Sex Marriage

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on November 20, 2013, signed the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act (P.A. 98-597 (S. 10), L. 2013, effective June 1, 2014), allowing the state to embrace full marriage equality. The legislation permits all couples in the state to receive the rights and protections of marriage. (Illinois Government News Network, Governor’s Office, Press Release, November 20, 2013).

Iowa Unemployment Insurance

The taxable wage base in Iowa for 2014 will be $26,800, an increase of $800 from the 2013 taxable wage base amount of $26,000. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶16-1700.

New Jersey Posters

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development has announced that a notice of adoption containing the final form of notification for the required gender equity notice will be published in the January 6, 2014, issue of the New Jersey Register. Upon publication of the notice of adoption, Department rules governing posting and distribution of the gender equity notice will appear in the New Jersey Administrative Code at 12:2-2.1 through 2.4. This January 6 publication date triggers the posting and distribution requirements of Chapter 57 (A. 2647), L. 2012.

Employers with 50 or more employees must conspicuously post the gender equity notice in a place accessible to all employees in each of the employer’s workplaces. If a covered employer has an Internet or Intranet site for exclusive use by its employees to which all employees have access, posting the notice on the Internet or Intranet site will satisfy the posting requirements.

Employers are also required to provide employees with a written copy of the notice, no later than February 5, 2014, for employees hired on or before January 6, 2014. For those hired after January 6, 2014, employers must provide each employee with a written copy of the notice at the time of hiring. In addition, employers must provide each employee with a written copy of the notice annually, on or before December 31 of each year. Notices must also be provided upon request of the employee. Notices must be accompanied by an acknowledgment that the employee has received the gender equity notice and has read and understands its terms. This acknowledgment must be signed by the employee, in writing or by means of electronic verification, and returned to the covered employer within 30 days of its receipt (State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, December 2013 Bulletin regarding New Gender Equity Notice,http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/EmployerPosterPacket/ge nderequityposterwebsiteupdate_12_9_13.pdf; Gender Equity Notice, http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/EmployerPosterPacket/AD- 290GenderEquity1-14.pdf). Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶31- 9900.

New Jersey Unemployment Insurance

The rate New Jersey employees will pay to cover Family Leave Insurance remains 0.1% for the period of January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014. In addition, the employee contribution rate for disability insurance will be 0.38% for the period of January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014, which represents an increase from the 0.36% rate that was in effect for 2013. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶31-1700.

New Mexico Unemployment Insurance

For 2014, the taxable wage base in New Mexico will be $23,400, an increase of $500 from the 2013 taxable wage base amount of $22,900. Also for 2014, the rates in Schedule 2 will be in effect. These rates range from 0.1% to 5.4%. The rate for new employers will be 2.0% in 2014. The 2014 maximum weekly benefit amount in New Mexico will be $406, and the minimum weekly benefit amount for the year will be $75. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶32-1700.

Oklahoma Unemployment Insurance

The state experience factor for 2014 is 41%. Rates for 2014 range from 0.2% to 7.3%. Conditional Factor B applies. The new employer rate for 2014 is 2.4%. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶37-1700.

Oregon Unemployment Insurance

Rate Schedule VI is in effect in Oregon for 2014. Contribution rates will range from 1.8% to 5.4%, with a base rate of 3.1% for new employers. The taxable wage base in Oregon for 2014 will be $35,000, an increase of $900 over the 2013 taxable wage base amount of $34,100. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶38-1700.

Washington Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2014, a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour has been established for certain hospitality and transportation workers in the City of SeaTac, in Kings County, with future annual increases based on inflation starting in 2015. Proposition No. 1 was adopted in the November 5, 2013, General Election, as determined by final results certified in King County on November 26, 2013. City Council Resolution 13-010 establishes minimum employment standards for certain hospitality and transportation industry employers, including requiring that such employers pay covered employees a minimum wage, as well as safe and sick leave of 1 hour per 40 hours worked. Tips are to be retained by workers who performed the services. Also, employers must offer additional hours of employment to existing employees before hiring from outside.

Additional labor standards are also required under the Resolution, including requiring 60 days’ notice of termination of a predecessor employer’s contract, in writing, that provides qualified retention employees are to be placed on a qualified displacement worker list and that the successor employer may be required to offer continued employment. A successor employer would not be able to discharge a retention employee without just cause during the initial 90 days of employment. An employee would be qualified if he or she has performed similar work in the past and was not discharged for incompetence or can be reasonably trained for duties of the position through an amount of training not in excess of the training provided to someone hired off the street. Employees are also protected from retaliation for exercising their protected rights (City Council of the City of SeaTac, Washington, Resolution No. 13-010, http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/2013nov- general/docs/measures/seatac.pdf; Final Election Results, General and Special Election, November 5, 2013, http://your.kingcounty.gov/elections/2013nov- general/results/final/results.pdf). Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶49-1000.

West Virginia Veterans’ Preference

The state has amended its law relating to veterans’ preference. The law now includes persons who served honorably in the National Guard and Reserves or who were discharged because of a service-connected disability in the definition of “eligible veteran" for certain state training and employment preference benefits (H. 2361, L. 2013). Full text, State Employment Law Library ¶51- 21,750.02. Wisconsin Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2014, the living wage rate for Madison will be $12.45 per hour. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶51-1000.