New Laws and Other Requirements Commencing January 1, 2015

 

by Philip M. Vermeulen, Legislative Advocate, Golden State Builders Exchanges

 

 

New Laws Commencing January 1, 2015

 

Are you ready to start off January 1st ‘in the know’ and in full compliance with all new laws, regulations and other requirements?  Following is a listing of everything that will affect your business starting on January 1, 2015.

First off, let me review the new laws that take effect on January 1st, 2015, according to subject matter.  Remember, ignorance of a law is NOT a defense, so pay attention closely.  

 

 If you would like a complete copy of any of these bills, please go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov  Once on this site, type the bill number that you would like to review and then click on the PDF version so you can read it in its exact format.  Of course, if you have ANY questions on a particular bill, please email me at phil@pvgov.com  

 

Apprenticeship

 

AB 1870 -  Public works: prevailing wage: multiemployer apprenticeship program grants - This bill will, if there are two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or trade and county for which the training contributions were made to the council, require the grant to be divided among those programs based on the number of apprentices from that county registered in each program.

 

AB 2744 - Public works: apprenticeship program - Makes specified provisions of law relating to a contractor or subcontractor performing a public works project applicable to violations of provisions related to the employment of apprentices.

 

Cal/OSHA 

 

AB 1634 - Occupational safety and health: violations - Enacts various provisions of law related to an employer's obligation to abate an alleged workplace safety and health hazard. Prohibits the Division of Occupational Safety and Health from granting for serious violations, abatement or credit for abatement unless the employer has abated the violation or has submitted a statement to the division in accordance with existing law, and will additionally require supporting evidence with the statement where necessary. The bill will authorize the division to grant such a modification only if the violation has been abated or the signed statement and supporting evidence is received within 10 working days after the end of the period fixed for abatement.

 

Competitive Bidding 

 

AB 1581 - School facilities: construction contracts - Requires a school district using lease-lease back construction procurement to use the same prequalification process as required for design-bid-build construction for all electrical, mechanical and plumbing work.

 

SB 502 -   University of California: bidding requirements -  
Current law provides that where the Regents of the University of California are of the view that a project of $100,000 or less does not require the application of all provisions of law relating to competitive bidding by the university, the regents shall solicit bids in writing and award the work to the lowest responsible bidder or reject all bids. This bill  will raise this dollar threshold for the cost of a project to $640,000 

 

Contractor Licensing 

 

AB 186 - Professions and vocations: military spouses: temporary licenses - Establishes a temporary licensure process for specified licensed professions for an applicant who holds a current, active, and unrestricted license in another jurisdiction and who supplies satisfactory evidence of being married to, or in a domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is assigned to a duty station in California under official active duty military orders.

 

AB 1702 -  Professions and vocations: incarceration -  This bill will provide that an individual who has satisfied any of the requirements needed to obtain a license while incarcerated, who applies for that license upon release from incarceration, and who is otherwise eligible for the license shall not be subject to a delay in processing the application or a denial of the license solely on the basis that some or all of the licensure requirements were completed while the individual was incarcerated.




AB 2396 - Convictions: expungement: licenses -  This bill will prohibit a board within the Department of Consumer Affairs from denying a license based solely on a conviction that has been dismissed pursuant to the above provisions.

 

SB 315 - Unlicensed Contractors - The Contractors' State License Law establishes an enforcement division within the Contractors' State License Board that is required to enforce prohibitions against unlicensed activity and the act authorizes persons employed as enforcement representatives in the division and designated by the Director of Consumer Affairs to issue written notices to appear in court. This bill additionally requires that the enforcement division, when participating in the activities of the Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy, be granted free access to all places of labor.

 

AB 759   Alarm companies - Will expand the exemption from licensure as a locksmith or registration as an employee of a locksmith to include a person who is licensed, certified, or registered with the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services pursuant to the Alarm Company Act if the duties of the person that constitute locksmithing are performed in combination with the installation, maintenance, moving, repairing, replacing, servicing, or reconfiguration of an alarm system, as defined, and limited to work on electronic locks or access control devices that are controlled by an alarm system control device, including the removal of existing hardware.

 

Employers / Employees

 

AB 1522 - Sick Leave - Enacts the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 to provide that an employee who on or after July 1, 2015, works in California for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment is entitled to paid sick days, to be accrued at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked. An employee will be entitled to use accrued sick days beginning on the 90th day of employment. The bill excludes employee who are subject to collective bargaining agreements under specific circumstances.  The provisions of this bill DO NOT take effect until July 1, 2015; however, there is a notice about the program that is required effective January 1, 2015.  See follow up article immediately after this one. 

 

AB 1723 - Employees: wages - Current law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to recover liquidated damages for an employee who brings a complaint alleging payment of less than the minimum wage fixed by an order of the commission or by statute. This bill expands that penalty, restitution, and liquidated damages provision for a citation to also subject the employer to payment of any applicable penalties for the willful failure to timely pay wages of a resigned or discharged employee.

 

AB 1897 - Labor contracting: client liability - Requires a client employer to share with a labor contractor all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for all workers supplied by that labor contractor for the payment of wages and the failure to obtain valid workers' compensation coverage. The bill prohibits a client employer from shifting to the labor contractor legal duties or liabilities under workplace safety provisions with respect to workers provided by the labor contractor. The bill defines a client employer as a business entity that obtains or is provided workers to perform labor within the usual course of business from a labor contractor, with specific exceptions.

This bill does not apply to a business entity with fewer than 25 workers (including those hired directly and those obtained from or provided by any labor contractor); or, a business entity that has five (5) or fewer workers from a labor contractor or various labor contractors at any given time.

 

AB 2074 - Recovery of wages: liquidated damages -  Current law authorizes an employee to bring a civil lawsuit against his or her employer for the unpaid balance of wages or compensation owed to that employee. This bill provides that a suit for liquidated damages may be filed at any time before the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing the underlying action alleging payment of less than the state minimum wage.

 

AB 2751 - Retaliation - Current law makes it a misdemeanor for an employer to willfully refuse to reinstate or otherwise restore an employee who is determined by a specified procedure to be eligible for reinstatement. Current law subjects a person who violates these provisions to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. This bill requires the $10,000 penalty to be awarded to the employee or employees who suffered the violation.

 

SB 1360 - Compensation: rest or recovery periods - Current wage orders of the IWC require that a rest period be counted as hours worked, for which there shall be no deduction from wages. This bill will provide that a rest or recovery period mandated pursuant to a state law, including, but not limited to, an applicable statute, or applicable regulation, standard, or order of the IWC, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, or the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, shall be counted as hours worked, for which there shall be no deduction from wages. The bill declares that provision to be declaratory of existing law.

 

Gas Utilities

 

AB1937 - Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 2011: school and hospital notification of nonemergency excavation or construction of gas pipelines - Requires a gas corporation to provide not less than 3 working days' notice to a school or hospital prior to undertaking nonemergency excavation or construction of a gas pipeline when the work is located within 500 feet of the school or hospital.

 

Public Works/Prevailing Wage

 

AB 26 - Prevailing Wage - Codifies a determination by DIR that work performed during the post-construction phase of construction on a public works project, including all cleanup work at the jobsite, is considered part of the project and should be compensated at the prevailing wage rate.

 

AB 1650 - Public contracts: bidders: employment practices - Requires any person submitting a bid for a state construction contract to certify that they will not ask an applicant to disclose information concerning his or her conviction history on or at the time of an initial employment application.

 

AB 1939 - Public works: prevailing wages: contractor's costs - Requires an owner of a private work to inform the contractor if a public subsidy exists on the project that will result in payment of prevailing wages. Failure of the owner to do so makes the owner liable for payment of any prevailing wage differential and any penalties.

 

AB 2376 - State construction projects: insurance - Current law generally prohibits property belonging to the state from being insured against risk of damage or destruction by fire, with specified exceptions. Existing law, notwithstanding this general prohibition, authorizes the Director of General Services to establish a master builders' risk insurance program for all state construction projects during construction with a deductible of at least $25,000. This bill will require the contractor's deductible under a master policy to be outlined in the request for bids or proposals. 

 

 

SB 266 - Prevailing Wage - Clarifies the procedure for providing notice of completion or acceptance of a public work to the Labor Commissioner for purposes of prevailing wage claims.

 

 

Updates Mandated in 2015 to California Employment Posters, Pamphlets

 

​California’s paid sick leave law contains a new posting requirement, effective January 1, 2015 which means almost all employers must post a new notice. The California Chamber of Commerce 2015 California and Federal Employment Notices Poster and 2015 Required Notices Kit (with all-in-one poster) contain the new paid sick leave poster prepared by the California Labor Commissioner.

 

While July 1, 2015 is the effective date for employers to begin providing the paid sick leave benefit, the posting requirement is effective January 1, 2015.

 

Other Notices

 

Effective January 1, 2015, there are mandatory changes to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) Discrimination and Harassment notice (California Law Prohibits Workplace Discrimination and Harassment). These updates reflect new legislation) AB 1433) that expand anti-harassment protections to unpaid interns and volunteers.

Effective February 2014, the Cal/OSHA notice (Safety and Health Protection on the Job) was updated to reflect revised federal Hazard communications Program regulations issued by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

 

Pending

There are pending mandatory updates to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) notice, defines the term “spouse” under the act.

 

Also, there are pending regulations that may result in changes in 2015 to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) notice (Notice B), as well as to the Workers’ Compensation Notice (Notice to Employees Injuries Caused by Work). 

Pamphlet Updates There are updates to the Sexual Harassment pamphlet that reflect recent changes in legal protections against harassment. Every California employee and independent contractor must receive a sexual harassment information sheet form his/her employer.

 

There also were mandatory changes, effective July 1, 2014, to two pamphlets: Paid Family Leave, which must be given to new employees and employees requesting time off for a covered reason and Workers’ Compensation Rights & Benefits, which must be given to all new employees when they are hired.

 

It is also worth noting that regulation changes continue as a result of workers’ compensation reform measures. CalChamber will notify its members of any change.

 

More Information

 

Even a business that employs only one person in California must post and hand out required state and federal employment notices in each company location. Businesses may preorder the required poster online, or by calling (800) 331-8877, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

 

Besides the California Chamber of Commerce, many of the Builders Exchanges throughout California also have the posters available.

 

Tax Season Opens As Planned Following Extenders Legislation

 

Following the passage of the extenders legislation, the Internal Revenue Service announced this week that it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season as scheduled in January.

 

The IRS will begin accepting tax returns electronically on Jan. 20. Paper tax returns will begin processing at the same time.

 

The decision follows Congress renewing a number of "extender" provisions of the tax law that expired at the end of 2013. These provisions were renewed by Congress through the end of 2014. The final legislation was signed into law Dec 19, 2014.

 

"We have reviewed the late tax law changes and determined there was nothing preventing us from continuing our updating and testing of our systems," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "Our employees will continue an aggressive schedule of testing and preparation of our systems during the next month to complete the final stages needed for the 2015 tax season."

 

The IRS reminds taxpayers that filing electronically is the most accurate way to file a tax return and the fastest way to get a refund. There is no advantage to people filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting for e-file to begin.

 

More information about IRS Free File and other information about the 2015 filing season will be available in January.

CA gas tax jumps 10 cents in Jan.

 

By JOHN SEILER

New year. New tax on gas.

 

It’s AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 finally gouging drivers at the pump.

Although industry spokesmen have said the new gas tax could be as much as 70 cents a gallon, it looks like it could be around an FDR dime.

 

According to the Mercury-News:

 

A UC-Berkeley energy and economics expert says it’ll be more like nine or ten cents per gallon, which supporters say isn’t so high a price to pay for the environmental good it will do. Some Democrats want to delay the program; most Republicans want to stop it entirely. But at present, there …

 

 

Excitement returns for Elon Musk’s Hyperloop

 

By JAMES POULOS

 

Silicon Valley impresario Elon Musk’s Hyperloop transportation concept is back in the news. With a price tag that seemed daunting, especially when Musk warned he lacked the time to pursue the project, when it was advanced a year ago Hyperloop achieved little beyond sparking the imagination.

 

But now, Dirk Ahlborn, the head of his own California startup, has stepped forward to seize the initiative on making Musk’s super-fast trainlike vehicle a reality.

 

In a surprise for those outside the Silicon Valley bubble, Ahlborn recently announced his JumpStartFund has the wherewithal to take Hyperloop off the drawing board and into reality. “I have almost no doubt that once we …

 

 

Happy New Year!!!