The following changes to California employment law take effect on January 1, 2022.
CFRA LEAVE EXPANDED TO PARENTS-IN-LAW
Employees will be able to take leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to care for a parent-in-law with a serious health condition. A parent-in-law is defined as the parent of the employee’s spouse or domestic partner. Currently, parents are covered among the family members an employee can use CFRA leave to care for, but parents-in-law are not.
CFRA applies to employers that have five or more employees. Employees are eligible to take CFRA leave if they have worked for their employer for 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period before their leave begins. Additional details are available on the platform.
Action Items
If you have five or more employees, we recommend that you update your CFRA policy to add parents-in-law to the list of family members that can be cared for and ensure that managers are made aware of the change.
MINIMUM WAGES AND SALARIES
Statewide Minimum Wage
California’s minimum wage for employers with 25 or fewer employees will increase to $14 per hour. For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will be $15 per hour.
Exempt Employee Minimum Salaries and Wages
The minimum salary threshold for exempt employees will increase to $1,120 per week ($58,240 per year) for employers with 25 or fewer employees and $1,200 per week ($62,400 per year) for employers with 26 or more employees.
The minimum hourly rate for exempt computer software employees will increase to $50 per hour (or an annual salary of $104,149.81).
The minimum rate for exempt licensed physicians and surgeons paid on an hourly basis will increase to $91.07 per hour.
Local Minimum Wages
The hourly minimum wage will also increase in the following cities:
Belmont: $16.20
Burlingame: $15.60
Cupertino: $16.40
Daly City: $15.53
East Palo Alto: $15.60
El Cerrito: $16.37
Half Moon Bay: $15.56
Hayward (25 or fewer employees): $14.52
Hayward (26 or more employees): $15.56
Los Altos: $16.40
Menlo Park: $15.75
Mountain View: $17.10
Novato (25 or fewer employees): $15
Novato (26–99 employees): $15.53
Novato (100 or more employees): $15.77
Oakland: $15.06
Oakland (hotels with health benefits): $16.38
Oakland (hotels without health benefits): $21.84
Palo Alto: $16.45
Petaluma: $15.85
Redwood City: $16.20
Richmond: $15.54
San Carlos: $15.77
San Diego: $15
San José: $16.20
San Mateo: $16.20
Santa Clara: $16.40
Santa Rosa: $15.85
Sonoma (25 or fewer employees): $15
Sonoma (26 or more employees): $16
South San Francisco: $15.80
Sunnyvale: $17.10
West Hollywood (hotels): $17.64
West Hollywood (49 or fewer employees): $15
West Hollywood (50 or more employees): $15.50
West Hollywood’s minimum wage is new. Additional information is available here.
QUOTA NOTICES TO WAREHOUSE WORKERS
Employers that use quotas for their employees at warehouse distribution centers will be required to provide written notice of their required quota and the potential consequences for failing to meet the quota.
This new law applies to employers that have 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at multiple warehouse distribution centers in California. The law is available here.
