New CA State Workforce Laws Affect Workplace Operations

New laws—which came into effect on January 1^st—will affect workplace day-to-day operations and talent recruitment. These new laws include AB 1701, which holds the general contractor liable for wages and fringe benefits of the employees for its subcontractors; AB 450, a law that restricts lawyer to not cooperate any more than required by immigration enforcement action; AB 1008, also known as the ban-the-box law and restricts employers from inquiring about requirement about criminal history before the extension of a job offer; SB 396, a law that requires employers with 50-plus employees to provide at least two hours of sexual harassment training; SB 63, which expands parental leave obligation; requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave; and AB 168, which restricts employers from asking about an applicants pay history. We sat down with Dwayne McKenzie, a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson to talk about the impact of these new laws and how employers need to prepare.

GlobeSt.com: Is it typical to see this many new workplace laws?

Dwayne McKenzie: I think over the past few years, we have seen a number of added protections each year. From year to year, we might see a slightly different emphasis in terms of the what the legislature is focused on. This year, we are seeing more gender-related harassment getting attention. In our current climate, with the attention towards sexual harassment and more broadly sexual misconduct allegations, it seems like the timing is appropriate that we have these new statutes that touch on some of these ideas.