Date & Time
January 27, 2015-February 11, 2015
   |    Starts at
8:00am, Jan 27th
   |   Live Event
This program is being presented on six dates in Milpitas, Santa Maria, Diamond Bar and Fresno

Gary W. Bethel will present a review of the continuing avalanche of new legislation signed into law at the state and federal level which will impact California employers in 2015. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the highest number of bills sent to a California governor since 2008. Read complete program description below.

Program Cost: $97.50
Register by clicking on the date below:

January 27
Milpitas

Breakfast & Registration: 7:30 am - 8:30 am
Program: 8:30 am - 11:30 am

Address:
Sheraton San Jose Hotel
1801 Barber Lane 
Milpitas, CA

January 29
Santa Maria

Breakfast & Registration: 7:30 am - 8:30 am
Program: 8:30 am - 11:30 am

Address:
The Santa Maria Inn 
801 South Broadway 
Santa Maria, CA

February 4 and February 5
Diamond Bar

Breakfast & Registration: 8:00 am - 9:00 am
Program: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Address:
Holiday Inn-Diamond Bar
21725 Gateway Center Drive 
Diamond Bar, CA

February 10 and February 11
Fresno

Breakfast & Registration: 7:30 am - 8:30 am
Program: 8:30 am - 11:30 am

Address:
The University of California Center 
550 E. Shaw Avenue 
(opposite the Fashion Fair Mall) 
Fresno, CA

Program Description:

The review of new California legislation effective January 1, 2015, includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • California’s new mandatory paid sick leave requirement contained in the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, which will, with some limited exceptions, require employers with employees who work in California to provide up to 3 days or 24 hours of paid sick time to current and new employees beginning on July 1, 2015. The new law is complex, creating eight new statutes and amending a ninth, and adding recordkeeping and notice requirements for employers. We will examine the basics of complying with this law, the impact on employers’ current vacation, sick leave, or paid time off policies, etc. (AB 1522);
  • AB 1660 which expands the definition of national origin discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) to address the improper use of California driver's licenses as part of the employment process. This new law prohibits discrimination on the basis of possessing a driver's license and stipulates that an employer violates FEHA by requiring a person to present a driver's license unless certain conditions are met;
  • New wage and hour related legislative changes which include: changes which will allow employees to more quickly recover liquidated damages for minimum wage violations in an amount equal to the wages unlawfully unpaid; and the expansion of penalties for willful failure to pay wages of a resigned or discharged employee (AB 2074 & AB 1723).
  • New and expanded grounds and remedies for immigration-related retaliation. This will include a review of the new changes which prohibit an employer from discharging or in any manner discriminating, retaliating, or taking any adverse action against an employee because the employee updates or attempts to update personal information based on a lawful change of name, social security number, or federal employment authorization document; and, the requirement that a $10,000 civil penalty be assessed for unlawful immigration-related retaliation (AB 2751);
  • The expansion of AB 1825 supervisor training to include a "prevention of abusive conduct" (Anti-bullying) component in the training (AB 2053);
  • The new law which requires that client employers and labor contractors share all civil liability and civil legal responsibility for payment of wages, workers' compensation, and safety obligations to workers supplied by a labor contractor (AB 1897);
  • A new measure that extends the FEHA's anti-harassment and anti-discrimination protections to unpaid interns (AB 1443), and much more.

The federal review will include: the status of the Obama employment agenda and other legislative developments that all employers should be aware of during 2015, including: Obama initiating a review of the federal overtime rules; and Obama’s issuing of federal executive orders to avoid the legislative stalemate in U.S Congress; the continuing expansion of the scope of the NLRA by the National Labor Relations Board in the areas of arbitration, employees use of social media, and employers’ policies violating the NLRA; and the other developments within other agencies such as the EEOC that employers must be aware of.

Trends From 2014 And How That Should Impact Employers Planning For 2015: This component of the Briefing will focus on trends and issues in employment law that arose in 2014, based on recent court cases and the enforcement strategies of the various federal and state agencies, and how employers should respond to these trends in their day-to-day operations and policies. The focus will be on what employers can do in anticipation of problems, and what practical steps employers can take to avoid problems in these areas.

Case Law Overview: The Briefing will also include a review of the most relevant California and federal case law developments highlighting the most significant 2014 federal and state court decisions impacting employers in the areas of wage and hour, leaves of absence, disability, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, harassment and other areas of employment law. A partial list of the topics to be covered includes:

Wage and Hour: We will look at when employers can require exempt employees to use paid sick, vacation or PTO for full or partial-days absences. What guidance the California Supreme Court provided about the commissioned employee exemption and commission plans. When employees must be reimbursed for work-related calls on their personal cell phones. The continuing development of class action wage and hour claims in California. We will also review other recent DOL and DLSE guidance on wage and hour issues as a part of this update.

Immigration Enforcement: An overview of immigration related developments in California and at the federal level. We will look at the impact of California’s recent legislation in the area of immigration-related retaliation in this area and recent relevant case law developments. We will also review federal policy developments and the prosecution of employers at the federal level for harboring illegal aliens.

Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation And Leaves of Absence: Review of recent decisions in these areas and how they should impact employers’ policies and compliance efforts in 2015. Our review will include: the impact of the new California legislation related to abusive conduct and anti-bullying; and will include a review of the most significant court decisions in these ever-evolving areas of the law, and much more.

Other Subject Areas Will Include, But Are Not Limited To: Wrongful discharge developments in the area of arbitration in the workplace based on court decisions and issues in the area of privacy, and confidentiality. There will be plenty of issues to discuss based on the numerous important case law developments during 2014.

Suggested Employee Handbook Updates: A part of this session will include practical advice regarding the impact of new laws and court decisions on the updating of your current employee handbook policies for 2015.

PDFs of Recent Guidance: There will be an opportunity for those who attend to request various documents to be emailed to them.

Questions? Email Nanci Berry or call (559) 244-7500 or (805) 934-5770 or (888) 851-1160

Speakers

Gary W. Bethel

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