Multiple changes are coming to California wage and employment law in 2024, through a combination of several recently signed laws in 2023 and previously signed laws with delayed changes upcoming. 

California Workers Getting Additional Paid Sick Leave – SB 616 

Paid sick days and paid sick leave were made mandatory in California in 2014, with the California Healthy Workplace, Healthy Families Act of 2014.  Multiple counties and cities have additional rules for workers including leave policy that exceeds the state minimum. 

Starting January 1st, 2024 California employers will be required to offer increased sick hours, increase availability of sick pay to newer workers, allow additional roll-over or carry over of hours, and allow a higher cap on total sick time accrued. The new rules are contained in SB 616, signed into law on October 4th, 2023. 

A list of SB 616 changes to California law: 

1. 40 hours or 5 days per year, replacing the previous requirement of 24 hours or 3 days.
2. 40 hours must be accrued by the 200th day of employment.
3. 24 hours must be accrued by the 120th day of employment.
4. Sick day accrual use caps must be at least 40 hours, replacing the previous minimum cap of 24 hours.
5. Sick day accrual caps must be at least 10 days or 80 hours, replacing the previous minimum of 48 hours (6 days).
6. If employees accrue sick leave over time and do not receive it by lump sum, they must accrue at least one hour for every 30 hours worked.

Any local laws at the city or county level that provided for a lower limit are superseded, these higher requirements will apply.  You should receive the California minimums set by this law even if your city or county has passed a smaller requirement. 

Union workers, or workers governed by collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) are also covered by this law if they do not earn 30% above the state minimum wage, set to be $16 in 2024.  It also covers unionized workers if their agreement did not provide paid sick leave. This means even if a California worker was a union member with an agreement, and the agreement provided for paid sick leave, this law would apply if they are not earning at least $20.80 per hour.  For workers under a collective bargain or union contract, it would apply to workers of any wage level if their agreement did not offer paid sick leave. 

California Workers Get Additional Protection from Noncompete Agreements 

Two laws, SB 699 and AB 1076, amend existing California law limiting the enforcement of non-compete agreements and non-compete clauses. California employment law has maintained a dim view of non-compete agreements, and the new laws further cement this position. 

AB 1076: 

AB 1076 amends the existing section of the Business and Professional Code (16600) to void the application of any noncompete agreement regardless of how limited or narrowly tailored, if it fails to meet the limited exceptions provided. 

A new section added to the law by AB 1076, Section 16601, makes it illegal to create any new non-compete agreement unless it meets existing exemptions.  It also provides a new disclosure requirement, where businesses with existing unenforceable non-complete agreements must mail a notice, by February 14th 2024, to California employees informing them their non-complete is unenforceable. 

SB 699: 

SB 699 provides for a new section of the Business and Professional Code (16600.5), which adds new limitations on non-compete agreements. 

A summary of the changes: 

1. Former, current and prospective employees can bring private action against the employer for injunctive relief or damages for violation of this section, including attorney fees and costs.
2. Any employer who creates or attempts to enforce an unenforceable non-compete agreement is committing a violation.
3. Employers cannot create or enter into new non-compete agreements that do not meet all restrictions and exemptions.
4. Employers cannot attempt to enforce an unenforceable agreement that was previously entered into.
5. Non-compete agreements are unenforceable regardless of which state they were signed, the agreement does not have to have been signed in California or entered into outside of California.

California New Hires Get More Protection From Retaliation 

California’s SB 497 established a position of presumed retaliation if an employee receives an adverse action within 90 days of taking a protected action.  The assumption is rebuttable, meaning employers can show they had a legitimate and non-retaliatory reason for taking the action, but it removes requirements that an employer show a link between their protected action and the adverse action of the employer if the adverse action occurred within 90 days of the protected action. 

The law allows for a $10,000 civil penalty for any employer engaging in such retaliation. 

Examples of protected actions: 

1. Reporting worker safety violations
2. Reporting wage law violations
3. Reporting financial reporting violations
4. Reporting environmental law violation
5. Filing a workplace injury claim or report
6. Taking leave with a protected status, such as through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
7. Engaging in union organization
8. Reporting potential harassment or discrimination
9. Requesting accommodation for a disability
10. Disclosing or discussing wages and pay with other workers
11. Taking leave for pregnancy or parental leave
12. Refusing to violate the law or perform an illegal act

California Workers Get Reproductive Loss Leave 

SB 848 adds a new type of protected leave after a California workers experiences a loss of pregnancy or other reproductive loss event.  The law allows for up to 5 days of leave for events covered under the new law. 

Differing from other categories of leave, such as bereavement, the law will not require any documentation to the employer to support the leave claim. The law applies to companies of any size for employees employed over 30 days. 

California Healthcare Workers Get a $25 Minimum Wage (By 2026, 2027 or 2028) 

SB 525, signed into law on October 13th, 2023, will establish new higher minimum wages for health care workers. The timing and rates of the increase depend on multiple factors such as the size of the employer and the types of care provided and insurance used: 

From the SB 525 Legislative Counsel Digest: 

This bill would require, for any covered health care facility employer, as defined, with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTEE), as defined, any covered health care facility employer that is a part of an integrated health care delivery system or a health care system with 10,000 or more FTEEs, a covered health care facility employer that is a dialysis clinic or is a person that owns, controls, or operates a dialysis clinic, or a covered health facility owned, affiliated, or operated by a county with a population of more than 5,000,000 as of January 1, 2023, the minimum wage for covered health care employees to be $23 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025, inclusive, $24 per hour from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026, inclusive, and $25 per hour from June 1, 2026, and until as adjusted as specified.

This bill would require, for any hospital that is a hospital with a high governmental payor mix, an independent hospital with an elevated governmental payor mix, a rural independent covered health care facility, or a covered health care facility that is owned, affiliated, or operated by a county with a population of less than 250,000 as of January 1, 2023, as those terms are defined, the minimum wage for covered health care employees to be $18 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2033, inclusive, and $25 per hour from June 1, 2033, and until as adjusted as specified.

This bill would require, for specified clinics that meet certain requirements, the minimum wage for covered health care employees to be $21 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2026, inclusive, and $22 per hour from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2027, inclusive, and $25 from June 1, 2027, and until as adjusted as specified.

This bill would require, for all other covered health care facility employers, the minimum wage for covered health care employees to be $21 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2026, inclusive, $23 per hour from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2028, inclusive, and $25 per hour from June 1, 2028, and until as adjusted as specified. 

This bill would provide that a covered health care facility that is county owned, affiliated, or operated must implement the appropriate minimum wage schedule described above, as applicable, beginning January 1, 2025.

This bill would also separately require, for a licensed skilled nursing facility, as described, the minimum wage for certain other covered health care employees, as described, to be $21 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2026, inclusive, $23 per hour from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2028, inclusive, and $25 per hour from June 1, 2028, and until as adjusted as specified. The bill would make this minimum wage requirement effective only when a patient care minimum spending requirement applicable to skilled nursing facilities is in effect.

California Wage and Hour Lawyers 

If you believe you are not being paid for all of the time you have worked, or are not being paid the overtime due to you, or other protections or rights are being violated, we invite you to schedule a consultation with an employment law attorney in our California, Texas, North Carolina or Puerto Rico offices. Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP is a national law firm that represents employees in a wide range of employment law cases, including California employees from our Northern and Southern California offices. Contact us at 1-800-689-0024.