In our third post on changes affecting employers in California in the New Year, we discuss new laws regarding wage statements and payments of wages and commissions. For clarification on how these changes may affect your business, please contact one of our skilled labor and employment attorneys.
Temporary Services Employers Must Provide Extra Detail on Wage Statements
Beyond the extensive wage statement requirements already in place for California employers under the Labor Code (see, e.g., Cal. Lab. Code § 226), AB 1744 will amend the Code to require that temporary services employers (with the exception of certain security services companies) include additional information on employee wage statements. Specifically, temporary service employers will also have to include the rate of pay for each separate assignment, the name and address of each entity that secured the temporary employee’s services, and the total hours worked for each such entity. These new requirements for temporary services employers will not take effect until July 1, 2013.
Injury Defined for Wage Statement Violations
SB 1255 amends Labor Code section 226 to define an injury specifically for purposes of violating the itemized wage statement statute. Employers are required to provide specified information to employees on a wage statement each time wages are paid. An employee who suffers an injury because of an employer knowingly or intentionally failing to comply with the statute is entitled to recover damages against the employer.
Certain Exemptions from New Commission Agreement Law
Last year, Governor Brown signed into law AB 1396, which requires California employers that pay employees commissions to have written commission agreements. AB 2675 amends the written commission agreement law (which takes effect on January 1, 2013) to exempt certain types of wage payments from the written agreement requirement.
Payment of Salary to Nonexempt Employees
AB 2103 amends section 515 of the Labor Code to state that payment of a fixed salary to a nonexempt employee will be deemed to be payment only for the employee’s regular non-overtime hours, notwithstanding any private agreement or explicit mutual wage agreement to the contrary.
Exemption to Wage Garnishment Requirements
AB 1775 increases the amount of wages that are exempt from garnishment. This amendment is effective July 1, 2013.
Posted in Labor and Employment Law | Tagged California labor laws, Commissions, Employment law attorneys, Wage requirements
