Author: SweeterHR

The California legislature passed a law requiring employers with 15 or more employees to provide the pay range for all positions including the publication of each employer’s information on the internet. The purpose of the pay transparency bill is to increase pay equity within organizations, eliminating disparities. Employees that are aware of the pay structure in their company have increased commitment. It is essential to implement consistent protocols to ensure job ads reflect accurate pay scales. Using compensation benchmarks such as researching your industry’s market pricing for each position is one strategy to create fairness in wages. Employees are entitled to a nondiscriminatory workplace therefore; it is important to have yearly compensation reviews to guarantee that your company is striving for equitable pay ranges. If you need help determining the market rate for each position and pay ranges, please reach out to us! We can assist.

Beginning January 1, 2023, the California state minimum wage will be $15.50/hour for all employers!

This state minimum wage rate is used to determine the salary threshold for most salary exempt positions. This means, for 2023, you will need to ensure all exempt employees earn at least $64,480 per year.

2023 Local Minimum Wage Rate Increases

These local minimum wage rate increases go into effect on January 1, 2023:

Belmont: $16.75/hour

Burlingame: $16.47/hour

Cupertino: $17.20/hour

Daly City: $16.07/hour

El Cerrito: $17.35/hour

Foster City: $16.50/hour

Half Moon Bay: $16.45/hour

Hayward: $16.34/hour for employers with 26 or more employees; $15.50/hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees

Los Altos: $17.20/hour

Menlo Park: $16.20/hour

Mountain View: $18.15/hour

Novato: $16.32/hour for employers with 100 or more employees; $16.07/hour for employers with 26-99 employees; $15.53/hour for employers with 1-25 employees;

Oakland: $15.97/hour

Palo Alto: $17.25/hour

Petaluma: $17.06/hour

Redwood City: $17/hour

Richmond: $16.17/hour

San Carlos: $16.32/hour

San Diego (city): $16.30/hour

San Jose: $17/hour

San Mateo (city): $16.75/hour

Santa Clara: $17.20/hour

Santa Rosa: $17.06/hour

Sonoma (city): $17/hour for employers with 26 or more employees; $16/hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees

South San Francisco: $16.70/hour

Sunnyvale: $17.95/hour

West Hollywood: $17.50/hour for employers with 50 or more employees; $17/hour for employers with less than 50 employees.

Proposition 118 passed in November of 2020, paving the way for CO’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. The FAMLI program will provide Colorado employees with paid to take care of themselves or their family during life circumstances that pull them away from their jobs (new parenthood, taking care of a loved one with a serious health condition, etc.). Team members may be eligible for benefits under FAMLI program as soon as January 1, 2024.

Both employers and employees will contribute premiums to the FAMLI program, so employees may start to see a FAMLI premium deduction on their pay statements beginning January 1, 2023. Most eligible employees will receive up to twelve weeks of leave with the FAMLI program. Those who experience pregnancy or childbirth complications may receive an additional four weeks.

Currently, California’s minimum wage law, passed in 2016, raises minimum wage in phases until it reaches $15/hr for all employers by 2023. The law states if inflation increases by more than 7%, then the state’s minimum wage will increase by 3.5%. The California Department of Finance determined inflation exceeded 7% this fiscal year, thus triggering the increase in minimum wage effective January 1, 2023.

The 7% threshold triggers the increase in the state minimum wage for all employers to reach $15.50 January 1st, 2023
Employers with exempt employees at the minimum salary requirement will also be impacted. Employees who are exempt from overtime and meal and rest period requirements under the California job duties exemptions must be paid at least two times the state minimum wage to qualify for the exemption. The $15.50 minimum wage increase means that the minimum salary for employees, exempt from overtime, in California will increase to $64,480 annually or $1,240 weekly ($15.50 x 2 x 40 hours).

Attorneys are noticing an increase in failure to accommodate cases. What is “failure to accommodate”? It is the lack of appropriate action by an employer to assist an employee with a disability, by providing resources or alternatives, to reasonably perform their job. This can include mental health as well as physical limitations. Why now? Short answer, COVID-19. Employees with pre-existing conditions who can work remotely should be allowed to work remotely if they request to do so. A reasonable accommodation can go beyond ergonomic keyboards, it can include WFH alternatives or personal leaves. If you need help assessing reasonable accommodations for your employees, please reach out to us!

Recognizing the significant surge in gasoline prices, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) recently announced that as of July 1, 2022 it will make “a special adjustment” to its optional standard mileage rates. For the final six months of 2022, the special mileage rates will be:

62.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;

22 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and

14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations (same as before).