California has many employment laws that differ from those of other states. For this reason, it is important to seek out an attorney who is knowledgeable and experienced in California-specific labor laws when a dispute with an employer arises.
In the past year, several new pieces of legislation were passed to protect California workers in various industries.
In this post, we will review laws that went into effect over the past year.
2022 employment laws
- The Garment Worker Protection Act: Also known as Senate Bill 62, this act addresses the responsibility of garment operations contracting parties as well as proper payment of employees in the industry.
- Recall right: Senate Bill 93 ensures that workers who were laid off during the worst of the recent global health emergency are notified of and offered available positions before new employees are hired.
- Warehouse quotas: Assembly Bill 701 protects California warehouse workers from quotas that violate labor laws. In addition, it requires employers to provide information on required employee quotas.
- Overtime for agriculture workers: Assembly Bill 1066, originally introduced in 2016, went into effect on January 1, 2022. It requires agriculture employers with 26 or more employees to pay workers overtime for anything more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. For Employers with 25 or fewer employees, it requires overtime pay for anything more than 9 1/2 hours per day, or 55 hours per week.
These and other labor laws can be reviewed on the California Labor Commissioner’s Office website. If you think you have been the victim of unfair or illegal labor practices, a labor and employment law attorney can review your case and advise of your next best steps.