All The Updates You Need for 2023
Table of Contents
Key Dates for 2023
California Minimum Wage Increase 2023
What’s New with COVID-19 Requirements?
SB 1044: Working During Emergency Conditions
AB 1041: California Expands Family Leave and Paid Sick Leave
AB 1949: Right to Bereavement Leave
SB 1162: Pay Transparency and Pay Data Reporting
Discrimination Updates
SB 1126 CALSAVERS Retirement Savings
AB 2669 Youth service organizations
Next Steps for 2023
Key Dates for 2023
Tyler & Bursch LLP Legal Update Webinar – January 24, 2022, at 12:00 pm PT Register for free today!
HR Conference at One&ALL Church – Save the Date! February 23, 2023 – Early Bird Registration is Open.
Several new employment-related laws are set to take effect in California in 2023. You want to be prepared, and Kingdom One is ready and equipped to help! Here’s a brief rundown:
California Minimum Wage Increase 2023
Beginning on January 1, 2023, all employers, regardless of size, must provide their employees a minimum wage of not less than $15.50 per hour. California law provides that overtime-exempt employees must receive a salary that is not less than two times the state minimum wage, which is $64,480 annually.
While the state minimum wage is set at $15.50 per hour, there are some localities that have set a higher minimum wage. We recommend that you visit US Berkley’s Law Center website for additional wage information in your area.
What’s New with COVID-19 Requirements?
Over 2 ½ years after the first COVID-19 lockdowns, California employers, including churches and ministries throughout the state, continue to monitor and adapt to these regulations.
AB 152 takes effect immediately and extends the current COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) sunset from September 30 to December 31, 2022. This does not provide additional SPSL, but simply extends the period for employees to use it.
- If you did not offer SPSL to your staff between September 30 and December 31 but had staff that was out due to Covid-19, you will need to reconcile the leave for 2022 prior to processing W2s
AB 2693 is an update to the original notice requirements enacted in AB 685. This legislation extends the statutory COVID-19 notice requirements for another 12 months until January 1, 2024. As you may recall, AB 685 generally required employers to provide notice to employees and others who may have been exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace.
AB 1751 extends the rebuttable presumption in certain workers compensation cases that death or injury to COVID-19 is work-related, i.e., that the employee contracted the virus in the course and scope of employment. The presumption was set to expire on January 1, 2023, but is now extended to January 1, 2024.
AB 2693 makes some important changes to those notice requirements. In lieu of individual communications, your ministry will be required to simply post a notice in the workplace for 15 days when there has been an exposure. Of course, your organization can opt to continue providing individual notices in the same general manner as previously required if you prefer. AB 2693 also removes the requirement that employers report cases to their local health departments.
Keep in mind: Cal/OSHA is currently debating and may ultimately impose additional notice requirements that maintain an individual notification requirement. Employers will need to monitor Cal/OSHA closely for that potential development.
(Sources: SHRM, Fisher Phillips, Cal/OSHA, dir.ca.gov)
SB 1044: Working During Emergency Conditions
SB 1044 goes into effect for California employers on January 1, 2023 and addresses a concern that employees may feel compelled to work in a potentially unsafe environment brought on by a crisis situation. Specifically, this legislation makes it unlawful for employers to threaten or take adverse action against an employee for refusing to report to or leave a workplace due to a reasonable belief that it is unsafe due to an emergency condition.
An emergency condition is defined as:
- Conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons or property at the workplace, caused by natural forces or a criminal act.
- An order to evacuate a workplace, worksite, worker’s home, or the school of the worker’s child due to a natural disaster or criminal act.
In addition, SB 1044 prohibits an employer from preventing any private or public sector employee from accessing the employee’s mobile device or other communications device for seeking emergency assistance, assessing the safety of the situation, or communicating with a person to confirm their safety.
While a few federal laws already prohibit your ministry from requiring staff to work in a dangerous condition, this new state legislation tightens up those standards on a state level.
It’s important to note that SB 1044 does not include health pandemic emergencies and therefore does not apply to situations where an employee says they feel unsafe due to COVID-19. Many emergency scenarios, such as an evacuation notice or criminal act, are quite obvious when they occur. However, there are potential challenges that ministries may face in implementing SB 1044 due to the subjective nature of “reasonable belief.” A worker’s belief is considered reasonable if a reasonable person would conclude there is a real danger of death or serious injury if that person enters or remains on the premises.
What proactive steps can churches and ministries take in light of this new legislation? This is a good time to revisit any workplace safety and disaster preparedness programs to ensure that standard operating procedures are documented and followed in the event of a catastrophe, disaster, or criminal act. It’s also a great opportunity to train department supervisors on how to manage communication with their team members during reported emergencies.
(Sources: Fisher Phillips, SHRM, legislature.ca.gov)
AB 1041: California Expands Family Leave and Paid Sick Leave
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) generally requires private employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for family care and medical leave. AB 1041, which takes effect January 1, 2023, expands the definition of a “family member” under CFRA and California’s paid sick leave to include a “designated person.” The designated person should be identified by the employee at the time leave is requested, and can be “any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” While this is a broad and potentially subjective definition determined by the employee, they can only designate one person per 12-month period.
Ministries should review their recordkeeping strategy to document employee leaves of absence, including designations and timeframes for CFRA and paid sick leave.
Would you like help auditing your HRIS or overall legal compliance strategies? Kingdom One is ready to help!
(Sources: CalChamber, SHRM, legislature.ca.gov)
AB 1949: Right to Bereavement Leave
AB 1949 ensures bereavement leave of up to five days of unpaid time off in the case of the death of a spouse, child, parent, or other qualifying family members. This can be a significant way to support your staff members in the most difficult seasons of life.
Under this legislation, leave should be taken within three months of the date of passing. You can also ask for certain documentation to be provided within 30 days. If your ministry already offers bereavement leave that meets or exceeds the minimum duration, you will be unaffected by this new law.
Be sure to update your Employee Policy Manual to reflect any changes. Kingdom One can help with that!
(Sources: CalChamber)
SB 1162: Pay Transparency and Pay Data Reporting
California’s effort to promote pay equity in the workplace has taken a significant step forward with Governor Newsom’s signing of SB 1162, going into effect on January 1, 2023. There are several key components to this new legislation:
- Employees will be able to receive the pay scale for their current position upon request to their employer.
- Job applicants will also now be able to request the pay scale of the position for which they are applying.
- Organizations will be required to maintain records of job titles and pay history for each employee during the duration of their employment and three years following termination.
- Additionally, organizations with 15 or more employees will need to include the pay scale for an open position on their job postings. Third parties used for recruitment will also be required to post the pay range.
- California Pay Data Reports are required of employers with at least 100 employees. These reports are to be submitted to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) by May 10, 2023, and the second Wednesday of May each year thereafter. Pay data reports will need to include the median and mean hourly rate for each combination of race, ethnicity, and sex of the employer’s workforce for each job category.
How To Prepare
First and foremost, ministries should not panic. Now is the right time to review your current pay ranges and job descriptions. It’s also important to be sure your systems and processes are well documented. In the new year, you may find that employees start inquiring about the pay range for their specific position or react if they see the pay range on a job posting for a similar position in your ministry. Depending on how well-defined and reasonable your scales are, it may elicit some immediate reactions from staff members.
If you need help reviewing your ministry’s pay structure or would like to conduct a complete pay equity audit to evaluate the health of your compensation plans, Kingdom One stands ready to support your efforts!
Also, join us for an important legal update on SB 1162 and the other new 2023 laws at the Tyler & Bursch webinar scheduled for January 24, 2023.
(Sources: https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/paydatareporting/, CalChamber, SHRM, Fisher Phillips, Intuit
Opportunities to participate in Kingdom One’s compensation survey. Kingdom One is building a new compensation tool for ministries. It is a helpful, accurate, effective, and actionable compensation survey that will help ministries fairly compensate their employees based on the ministry’s geographical location. In order for the compensation to be realistic, we need your help. We are looking for churches of all sizes, ministry offerings and locations to participate. If you are interested in helping us create this resource, please complete the interest survey here.
Discrimination Updates
AB 2188, which bans employers from discriminating against employees or job applicants based on their use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace. Employers can continue to conduct pre-employment drug testing and still refuse to hire a job candidate who tests positive for the psychoactive form of cannabis. Employers have until January 2024 to comply.
SB 523, the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2022, effective January 2023
The bill includes a provision revising the California Fair Employment and Housing Act that makes it illegal to discriminate against an employee or job applicant based on their “reproductive health decision-making” to use or access a particular drug, device, product, or medical service for reproductive health.
How do AB 2188 and SB 523 impact ministry?
What you need to know.
AB 2188 & SB 523 – As a registered non-profit religious organization, a ministry can and does reserve the right to discriminate in hiring persons whose lifestyle is contradictory to Biblical principles.
SB 523 – If you are concerned about the medical plans you are offering to your ministries that might provide services that are contradictory to Biblical principles, contact your benefits broker about options available to you when selecting benefits plans. Or if you need assistance with Biblically-based medical coverage, contact Kingdom One for more information.
SB 1126 CALSAVERS Retirement Savings
You may have heard about SB 1126, which expands California’s CalSavers Retirement Saving Program by requiring employers with at least one employee to register for CalSavers by December 31, 2025. While this bill expanded the requirements of the program, it did not change the exemption status for registered religious organizations. Religious organizations are exempt from the program’s registration requirements; therefore, no action is required.
Good News! In April, Kingdom One is launching a 403(b) associational retirement plan! If you are interested in finding out more, sign up to join our interest list.
Source: CA Legistative Information website
AB 2669 Youth service organizations: child abuse and neglect prevention.
Existing law, which took effect January 1, 2022, requires administrators, employees, and regular volunteers of a youth service organization to undergo criminal background checks to identify and exclude any persons with a history of child abuse.
This bill would, until January 1, 2024, exclude from this background check requirement youth service organizations that, prior to January 1, 2022, did not require administrators, employees, or regular volunteers to undergo background checks.
Existing law requires a youth service organization to develop and implement child abuse prevention policies and procedures, including policies requiring, to the greatest extent possible, the presence of at least 2 mandated reporters whenever administrators, employees, or volunteers are in contact with or supervising children.
This bill would exclude an organization that provides one-to-one mentoring to youth that has developed and implemented policies to ensure reporting of suspected incidents of child abuse to persons or entities outside of the organization, comprehensive screening of volunteers, training of volunteers and parents or guardians, and regular contact with volunteers and parents or guardians from the requirement that at least 2 mandated reporters be present when administrators, employees, or volunteers are in contact with, or supervise, the children.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Source: CA Legislative Information website
Kingdom One can help your ministry develop your child abuse prevention policies and procedures. Click here to get started.
If you are looking for reliable biblically-based AB-506 child abuse prevention training, Check out “Above Reproach” with a ministry, school, and volunteer version available at Kingdom One Academy.
Next Steps for 2023
- Review and update your employee handbook for the new year.
- K1 Employee Handbook Checklist
- Update the CFRA policy to include “designated person” changes.
- Review your bereavement policy to ensure compliance with the new 5 day minimum requirement.
- Review your pay scales and pay practices.
- Need help with reviewing your pay practices, Kingdom One can help you create a leveling and pay structure that supports your ministry.
- If you employ at least 100 employees, mark your calendars for May 10th to file your California Pay Data Report.
- Basic checklist for EEO1 Reporting.
- Make a plan for Covid-19 exposure notices.
- Inform staff if you opt to change from your current individual notices to a 15 day workplace posting.
- Covid 19 Exposure Notice Template
- Inform staff if you opt to change from your current individual notices to a 15 day workplace posting.
- Revisit any workplace safety and disaster preparedness programs to ensure that standard operating procedures are documented and followed in the event of a catastrophe, disaster, or criminal act.
- Need help with reviewing your workplace safety practices? Kingdom One can help.
● Get in touch with Kingdom One.
● Get in touch with Tyler and Bursch, LLP
HR Conference/Retreat – Kingdom One’s number one value is relationships first. We would love to get your thoughts on Kingdom One hosting a 3-day conference/retreat in the fall of 2023. Ideally, the conference/retreat would be hosted at an AirBnB, all-inclusive, with meals provided. There would be opportunities for development, connection/fellowship, and rest.