Effective January 1, 2012, Section 2810.5 of the California Labor Code requires employers to provide very specific information to every new non-exempt employee in California, including information regarding the employer, the regular pay date, the employee's wage and overtime rate, and the identity of the workers' compensation carrier. The statute also calls for an update to be issued within seven days if the information provided has changed and the change is not reflected already on a timely wage statement. Background on the new law was provided in a previous WSGR Alert that was issued on October 14, 2011.1

Template for Employers

On December 29, 2011, just days before the effective date of the new law, the California Labor Commissioner issued a "template" for use by employers as required by the statute. However, the template includes a number of requirements that were not included in the statute and have raised serious compliance concerns among employers. Although the statute indicates that the Labor Commissioner has the authority to add material that the Labor Commissioner deems "material and necessary," there was no indication that such a finding was made with respect to the additional material required by the template. Additionally, rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act were not followed.