LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (Employment) SB 2 (Burton) Would require California employers with more than 20 employees to provide health insurance or pay a tax, so that the state can provide coverage. Companies with over 200 employees will be required to also provide dependent coverage. Has Been APPROVED and is on the Governor’s desk. AB 30 (Richman) Expands the Healthy Families Program to include employed childless adults of a defined qualified employer, who are uninsured for health care coverage and who meet certain household income requirements. A "qualified employer" is defined as having 50 or fewer employees, with at least one-half of those employees being paid a wage rate that is less 200% on minimum wage. Last action August 29th and is in Senate Appropriations Committee - Held AB 76 (Corbett) Employers will be liable for the sexual harassment of a worker by a person over whom the employer has no control, such as customers and clients. Has Been APPROVED and is on the Governor’s desk. AB 223 (Diaz) Labor Union sponsored bill requiring that Employers pay attorney fees and court costs for employee judgments over $0.00. PASSED by the Governor AB 226 (Vargas) Prohibits the issuance of corporate-owned life insurance. PASSED by the Governor AB 274 (Koretz) Presumes that an employer is retaliating against an employee if the employer discharges, demotes, suspends or reduces the hours or pay of an employee within 90 days after an employee makes a claim under the Labor Code. Senate: approved – Assembly: May be considered after September 11th, pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. AB 276 (Koretz) Increases fines for Labor Code misdemeanor violations up to 500 percent. PASSED by the Governor AB 1715 (Corbett) On or after January 1, 2004, for an employer with 5 or more employees, would make it an unlawful employment practice to require an employee to waive rights and procedures established by FEHA . May place limits on the use of arbitration in employment contracts. Has Been APPROVED and is on the Governor’s desk. SB 796 (Dunn) - Allows private attorneys to sue employers for civil penalties for wage-and-hour Labor Code violations. Has Been APPROVED and is on the Governor’s desk. POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF THE RECALL: There is another significant side note to consider now that a recall election is POSSIBLY scheduled for October 7. The Legislature adjourned on September 13th, passing all approved bills to the Governor. The Governor then has 30 days to sign or veto bills. This deadline falls in mid-October, meaning the recall election will be held just days before the signing deadline. It is uncertain how the politics of a recall election that falls just days before the signing deadline for hundreds of bills will influence the Governor’s decision-making. REGARDING THE JUST PASSED WORK COMP REFORM PACKAGE: Current estimates from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau indicate that these proposals are likely not sufficient to stop the rate increase scheduled for January 1, 2004. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE (Non-Employment) AB 362 (Garcia) Requires the State Department of Managed Health Care to maintain a database indicating, for each county, the names of the plans that operate in that particular county. PASSED by the Governor AB 525 (Cohn) Requires the qualifications to make a specified recommendation of a child's need for a hearing aid must be made by a state licensed audiologist. An audiologist with only an American Speech and Hearing Association certification will no longer qualify. PASSED by the Governor SB 392 (Bowen) Prohibits the state Attorney General from consenting to an agreement or transaction involving the sale, transfer, lease or other disposition of a health facility owned by a nonprofit corporation to a for-profit corporation, a mutual benefit corporation or another nonprofit corporation, if the seller restricts the type or level of medical services that may be provided at the facility. PASSED by the Governor HIPPA October 16th compliance Click Here for a link to the DHHS/CMS “Questions to Ask Vendors” for compliance with the 10/16/03 electronic transactions standards deadline. For faxed newsletters, type the following into your web browser: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/hipaa2/questionsforproviderstoaskvendors.pdf Ownership Change Requires Payment of Vacation Wages My partner and I are thinking about splitting our current partnership into two corporations and going our separate ways. We hope to equally divide the partnership assets, customers and our employees into two separate companies. My question has to do with vacation: Can we transfer the employees’ vacation balances to the new companies, thereby allowing the employees to take their vacations at the scheduled times this coming summer? The current position of the labor commissioner is that all wages, including vacation wages, must be paid at the time that the ownership change becomes effective. This includes all accrued vacation. Avoid waiting time penalties under Labor Code Section 203, by paying your employees as they are terminated by the partnership. Labor Law Helpline: California Chamber. Answers to frequently asked questions are available at www.calchamber.com Department of Homeland Security Addresses Employment Verification During a recent teleconference sponsored by the American Bar Association, a representative of the Department of Homeland Security, which has assumed the responsibilities of the now defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service, remarked that the agency expects to focus on "serious violations" of the rules requiring employers to verify that workers are authorized to work in the United States. The representative noted that federal law prohibits employers from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers, and remarked that employers should have a universal procedure in place for verifying work authorization. DHS's representative stated that the agency is still working on a new Form I-9. DHS wants to issue a new Form I-9 that will reduce the number of acceptable work authorization documents and hopes to have a final rule and new Form I-9 in place by the end of the year. To back-page, Use your browser BACK button