Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce
Chamber News Newsletter
LARGEST BUSINESS ORGANIZATION IN TUOLUMNE COUNTY
True legislative transparency is already on the ballot
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By: Assemblymember Kristin Olsen
Each year that I have served in the State Assembly, I have worked to pass legislation that would give the public 72 hours to review and comment on a bill before it is voted on. And each time, these efforts have been quietly killed by Democratic leadership and the Assembly Budget Committee. This year, voters have taken matters into their own hands by qualifying The California Legislature Transparency Act for the November 2016 election. This ballot initiative will enact many of the reforms that good government reform groups like Common Cause and I have long championed, such as requiring a bill to be in print and available online at least 72 hours before a vote is taken in either House, and requiring all legislative hearings to be videotaped and available for the public to view within 24 hours after the hearing. —- Continued on page 6
Bank of Stockton CA Student Housing Cave & Mine Adventures Coldwell Banker Day-O Espresso Dodge Ridge El Dorado Savings Bank Indigeny Reserve Jim's Automotive Service JTM Cleaning Co. Keller Williams-Choate Kinematic Automation, Inc. L.K. Lehman Trucking Let's Go! Travel McDonald's Mono Village Apartments Morelia Restaurant Mother Lode Answering Service Nature's Whole Food Depot Pinecrest Lake Resort Scrubs 'n Such Sierra Pacific Industries Sonora Ford Sonora Insurance Agency Sonora Regional MC Three B's Event Planning T.C. Sheriff's Posse W.H. Breshears, Inc. Yosemite Title Company
In June, State Controller Betty Yee released a framework for reforming California's tax system. Releasing this framework is a great way to create public discussion on a much-needed reform, but I'm not holding my breath we'll see real progress anytime soon. The good news is mostly everyone agrees California's tax system is in need of reform. It's too volatile, rates are too high and other states like Florida and Texas continue to siphon away our jobs. We need a tax system that spurs, rather than stifles, innovation and job creation. I'm concerned, however, that money-hungry lawmakers will use the call for reform as an excuse to raise taxes. Our tax system is convoluted and hard to understand. To this end the governor and Legislature must commit to consider only revenue-neutral ideas that don't increase Californians' overall tax burden. Yes, it's time to revamp our tax system. But can we trust the Legislature to get it right? If they get it wrong, lawmakers could inflict great harm on California's economy, job creators and workers.
July 2016
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MISSION - To provide leadership for a healthy and vibrant business environment and encourage responsible economic growth that respects Tuolumne County’s quality of life.
10 Things Businesses Might Not Know About California’s Paid Sick Leave Law Denise Davis, CalChmaber.com
California's mandatory paid sick leave law is nothing to sneeze at. While employers are required to provide the paid sick leave (PSL) benefit to their employees since that provision of the law went into effect on July 1, 2015, there's still uncertainty about minimum requirements and other specifics of the law. ____ Paid sick leave questions continue to trouble many employers who want to comply, but are unsure about certain parts of the law. The latest CalChamber Capitol News Report, featuring Erika Frank, CalChamber vice president, legal affairs, and general counsel, and Jeff Belaski, general manager of the Waffle Experience, calls attention to how the PSL policy is implemented, accrual methods, record keeping and penalties. The summaries below appear in a CalChamber white paper, available to download here.
1.
The Law Covers Most Employers And Employees Even though the paid sick leave law received a lot of press, some businesses still seem surprised about the new law, perhaps thinking it does not apply to them. Unlike other leave laws, such as the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), there is no size requirement before the PSL law applies to a company. The law applies to all employers, big and small. Moreover, PSL must be provided to all types of employees: part-time, hourly, temporary, seasonal, exempt and nonexempt. Any employee who has worked in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within one year from the beginning of his/her employment will be entitled to PSL. 2. Even If You Had A Generous Policy In The Past, It May Need Revising Some employers may be under the impression that if they already had a generous paid sick leave or paid time off (PTO) policy in place, they don’t need to do anything to comply with the new PSL law. But this is probably not true. For example:
Many policies that voluntarily provided paid sick leave or PTO in the past did not allow employees to use the time to care for all of the family members who are currently covered by the new law (see discussion below). Policies may need to be updated to eliminate illegal limits on how PSL can be used.
Many paid sick policies in effect before the new law didn’t cover part-time employees, who are now covered.
Pre-PSL policies also may contain insufficient accrual rates; specific rules apply regarding grandfathering in previously used accrual methods. Employers will need to carefully compare any pre-existing policy with the requirements of
the new PSL law to make sure the policy complies. 3. You Can Use Different Methods For Different Groups of Employees Employers have various options for providing the sick leave benefit.
Generally speaking, these divide themselves into accrual options (such as the option to provide one hour for every 30 hours worked) and a lump-sum option where the employer places the full amount of leave (three days/24 hours) in the employee’s leave bank at the beginning of each year of employment, calendar year or 12-month period. 4. You Can Cap Accrual And Limit The Amount Of Time An Employee Can Take If your company chooses to use an accrual method, you should consider whether you want to impose a cap on how much PSL an employee can accrue. Under the statutory accrual method of one hour per every 30 hours worked, full-time employees will accrue nearly nine days of paid sick leave each year. Those days will carry over to the next year and continue to accrue unless you impose a cap. The PSL law allows employers to impose an accrual cap of 48 hours or six days. Once the employee reaches this cap, he/she will not continue to accrue PSL until he/she has used up some banked time. The law also allows an employer to limit the amount of PSL an employee can use/take in any one year to three days or 24 hours. This is separate from the cap on accrual. An employer can both cap the amount that is carried over to the next year and limit the amount of PSL that an employee can use in any one given year. Inform your employees of any cap on accrual or limitation on annual use that your company has enacted, preferably through a written policy. 5. Paid Sick Leave Can Be Used For Many Different Family Members Paid sick leave isn’t just for your employee to use when he or she is sick. Your employee also can use PSL to care for a child, parent (including parent-in-law), spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. Paid sick leave may also be used by an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. 6. Paid Sick Leave Is Protected: Check Your Attendance Policies PSL is protected time off. Employers can’t
retaliate or discriminate against employees who use or try to use PSL. Employers will want to look at any absence control policies they have in place. 7. No Doctor’s Note Required The law states that PSL must be provided when an employee makes a verbal or written request for the time off. If the need for time off is foreseeable, the employee must provide reasonable advance notice. If not, notice must be provided “as soon as practicable.” Unless certification is required pursuant to another leave law, no provision in the PSL law specifically allows an employer to require medical certification for paid sick time. 8. You Can Choose Between Various Options For Paying Employees For The Time Off PSL must be paid no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period after the sick leave was taken. Employers can use one of the following three methods to calculate how to pay employees who take paid sick time:
Calculate paid sick time for a nonexempt employee in the same manner as the “regular rate of pay” for the workweek in which the employee uses paid sick time, regardless of whether the employee actually works overtime in that workweek.
Calculate paid sick time for a nonexempt employee by “dividing the employee’s total wages, not including overtime premium pay, by the employee’s total hours worked in the full pay periods of the prior 90 days of employment.”
Calculate paid sick time for an exempt employee in the same manner as wages are calculated for other forms of paid leave time. 9. You Have Recordkeeping Obligations The PSL law requires you to keep records documenting the hours the employee worked, the paid sick days accrued by the employee and the paid sick days used by the employee for at least three years. Amendments to the mandatory paid sick leave law specifically state that, for recordkeeping purposes, an employer is not obligated to inquire into or record the purposes for which an employee uses paid time off. 10. Watch Out For Local Ordinances Several cities, including San Diego, San Francisco, Emeryville, Oakland, and Los Angeles enacted local ordinances providing for paid sick leave. Employers with businesses in a city with a local PSL ordinance need to comply with both the state and the local law. For each provision, protection or benefit, employers will need to provide employees whichever is more generous to the employee. VIDEO: https://youtu.be/iJMKf-lo_8c?t=3 INFOGRAPHIC: http://rfr.bz/s26wva WHITE PAPER: http://www.calchamber.com/hrcalifornia/white-papers/Documents/Ten-ThingsYou-Might-Not-Know-About-California's-Paid-Sick -Leave-Law.pdf
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Continued from Cover:
Assemblymember Kristin Olsen In a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the single most important thing we can do to inspire civic engagement is to ensure that government is transparent, responsive and effective for the people it exists to serve. This belief transcends party lines among the electorate. Last year, the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy (IATPP) released a poll indicating that 90 percent of Republicans, Democrats, and Decline to States support reforms to make our Legislature more transparent and accountable. Had the will of these voters been given the attention it deserves, public policy failures such as the School District Budget Reserve Cap would not have been successfully snuck into a budget bill at the last minute – because our constituents would have had time to review the policy and suggest amendments. Now, two years later, the Legislature still can’t agree on a solution for this wildly unpopular policy. Unfortunately, as schools spend down their reserves, it is our kids who suffer. This spring, I co-authored a last-ditch effort by Senator Lois Wolk to give the Legislature one more chance to pass the reforms I have been fighting for since the beginning of my Assembly tenure. Unfortunately, the bill has been weakened by Democrat leadership in the Legislature because they fear that the substantive initiative already on the ballot will secure enough votes to become law. The watered-down bills they now hope to pass are no more than smoke-and -mirrors measures meant to confuse voters. As of last month, I have rescinded my co-authorship. The California Legislature Transparency Act has been endorsed by some of the most important leaders in the movement for open government, including California Common Cause, California Forward, League of Women Voters, and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, because it ensures that all Californians will have access to legislation – in all forms possible and at every stage of the process – before
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a measure would be allowed to be taken up for a vote. It also ensures implementation of the Act by voiding all legislation that is out of compliance with the provisions of the Act. The California Legislature Transparency Act will improve public policy. It will allow Democrat and Republican legislators to better represent their constituencies. And it will increase transparency and trust among the public in an institution that too often inspires neither.
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Please send letters of opposition to SCA 14 and its companion measure AB 884 by writing or calling your state representatives. Tell them Californians deserve true transparency, not weak attempts at such. Yes on the upcoming ballot’s Transparency Act. No on SCA 14 and AB 884. Information for each legislative office can be found here.
Assemblymember Kristin Olsen, RRiverbank, is recognized as a solutionfocused reformer. She represents the 12th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes portions of Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties in the Central Valley. Follow her on Twitter: @KristinOlsenCA
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