California Legislative Updates to 2024 Employment Laws

California Legislative Updates to 2024 Employment Laws

California’s legislature has enacted a myriad of employment laws that take effect as early as January 1, 2024, and will require close work with employment counsel to ensure compliance. Some of the most pertinent updates to California law are discussed below.

California Expands Paid Sick Leave Entitlements

Since 2015, California’s paid sick leave law required employers to provide paid sick leave of up to 48 hours or 6 days of accrued time per year for employees in California, with usage capped at 24 hours or 3 days per year. Effective January 1, 2024, Senate Bill 616 (available here) increases these amounts, requiring employers to provide up to 80 hours or 10 days of accrued time per year for employees in California, with usage capped at 40 hours or 5 days per year. The rate of accrual remains the same at one hour of sick leave accrued for every 30 hours worked in California.

These higher maximums per year do not impact workers under a collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) if the CBA has its own paid sick leave provisions and the CBA also meets certain other conditions (“the CBA exclusion”). Many CBAs in the motion picture production industry already meet the CBA exclusion, but not all. Thus, the higher maximums will impact workers in California who are either non-union or who work under CBAs that do not meet the CBA exclusion.

Senate Bill 616 also extends a few new protections to union workers. The new protections include: (1) workers are allowed to use sick leave under CBAs for at least the same permitted usage reasons as under the law; (2) they cannot be required to search for a replacement worker to cover the sick leave period being used; and (3) they are entitled to protections against discrimination and retaliation.

EP’s Benefit Solutions and Labor Relations teams are ready to assist clients on the expanded paid sick leave law.

Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and Training Required in California

California Senate Bill 553 (available here) goes into effect on July 1, 2024, and requires employers of any size to create and implement a workplace violence prevention plan (“WVPP”) for employees working in California, with limited exceptions. The bill contains numerous requirements that require a great deal of planning before the effective date.

The WVPP must be written and have 13 general elements. To name a few, the WVPP must include procedures for (i) how to receive and respond to reports of workplace violence or threats including evacuation and sheltering plans, (ii) how workplace violence concerns and incidents will be investigated, (iii) developing and implementing an annual training program, and (iv) how to identify, evaluate and correct risk factors in the workplace.

The WVPP must be tailored to address hazards specific to each workplace. Employees and their union representatives must be allowed to participate in creating and implementing the WVPP and training program. A detailed violence incidents log must be maintained. Employers must review the effectiveness of the WVPP at least annually and, if necessary, update the WVPP. Training covering specific topics must be provided when the WVPP is created, and then annually thereafter, and training also must be provided when changes are made to the WVPP. As part of the training, there must be an opportunity for interactive Q&A with a person knowledgeable about the WVPP. Detailed training records must also be maintained. Cal/OSHA will enforce all of these requirements through inspections, citations, and hefty fines.

Wage Theft Protection Act (WTPA) Notice Expanded to Include Disaster Declaration Notification

Under California’s WTPA, employers must provide their non-union, non-exempt employees working in California a notice at the start of employment that contains basic information (employer’s legal name/address, pay rate, regular pay day, and workers’ compensation insurance information). The new law requires the notice (starting January 1, 2024) to include the existence of federal or state emergency or disaster declaration(s) covering the county or counties where the worker is employed and that were issued within 30 days before the employee’s first day of employment that may affect the employee’s health and safety during employment. The California Labor Commissioner is required to update its model form for employers by March 1, 2024, but employers still must comply starting January 1, 2024, which leaves a two-month gap where employers will have to update the content of their current form(s) to accommodate until the State’s published model content is available.

Please note that EP will update its courtesy form template made available to production company clients in time for the January 1, 2024, effective date.

California Expands Its Ban on Non-Competes

Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 699 (available here) into law to reinforce the strong public policy disfavoring non-compete agreements and to add new protections for employees. Senate Bill 699 provides that:

• Any contract that is void under this chapter is unenforceable regardless of where and when the contract was signed.
• An employer or former employer shall not attempt to enforce a contract that is void under this chapter, regardless of whether the contract was signed and the employment was maintained outside of California.
• An employer shall not enter into a contract with an employee or prospective employee that includes a provision void under this chapter.

The new law also provides a private right of action for employees, former employees, and applicants, and it allows a prevailing plaintiff to recover injunctive relief, actual damages, and attorneys’ fees.

The rationale for the new law, according to the California legislature, is that “recent years have shown that employers utilizing broad noncompete agreements attempt to subvert this longstanding policy by requiring employees to enter void contracts that impact employment opportunities once an employee has been terminated from the existing employer. Moreover, as the market for talent has become national and remote work has grown, California employers increasingly face the challenge of employers outside of California attempting to prevent the hiring of former employees.”

The Governor also signed another non-compete bill this past session – Assembly Bill 1076 (available here). This bill codifies existing case law by specifying that the statutory provision voiding noncompete contracts (section 16600 of the California Business & Professions Code) is to be broadly construed to void the application of any noncompete agreement in an employment context, or any noncompete clause in an employment contract (no matter how narrowly tailored) that does not satisfy specified exceptions. This new law also makes it unlawful to include a noncompete clause in an employment contract, or to require an employee to enter a noncompete agreement, that does not satisfy specified exceptions. Finally, the law requires employers to provide written notice by February 14, 2024, to current and former employees employed after January 1, 2022, that any unlawful noncompete clause or agreement they are subject to is void.

California Establishes Mandatory Guidelines Relating to the Use of Firearms and Ammunition on Movie Sets

In response to the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a movie in New Mexico in 2021, Governor Newsom signed a bill that sets firearm safety protocols for film and television productions. The legislation, Senate Bill 132 (availablehere), establishes mandatory guidelines around the use of firearms and ammunition on movie sets and requires training for anyone who uses a firearm or who works in proximity of firearms on a motion picture set. Production companies will need to review this new law with their safety experts and develop and enforce necessary guidelines as well as provide training to anyone on set who uses, oversees or works in proximity of firearms.

Trial Court Proceedings No Longer Automatically Stayed While Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration Is Under Appeal

Similar to federal law, the California Arbitration Act has allowed the losing party in a motion to compel arbitration of claims asserted in a lawsuit under an arbitration agreement to immediately appeal and stay further proceedings until appellate court resolution in order to preserve the status quo in the event of the appellate court’s reversal. Now, while the right to appeal remains immediate, the California legislature has removed the automatic immediate stay, which means that trial courts starting January 1, 2024, will have discretion to allow a case to proceed through the courts while the appeal is pending. This can lead to wasted resources and conflicts if an appellate court ultimately reverses denial of arbitration on appeal and orders enforcement of arbitration under the arbitration agreement. Because continuity of the trial court case pending an appeal to enforce an arbitration agreement undermines its core purpose of agreed private streamlined dispute resolution, this new law is likely to be challenged by arbitration advocates as preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act on elimination of the automatic stay. The new law governs any arbitration denial appeal taken on or after January 1, 2024.

Production companies should consult with their legal advisors regarding how these laws may apply to their specific situations.

For any questions about this Alert, you may contact:

Joe Scudiero, Senior Vice President & Chief Labor Counsel | jscudiero@ep.com
Scott Bishop, Vice President, Employment Law | sbishop@ep.com
Alan Wu, Director, Employment/Labor Relations Counsel | awu@ep.com
Pantea Lili Ahmadi, Director, Corporate & Employment Law Counsel |pahmadi@ep.com