Two Chamber of Commerce-opposed “job killer” bills that will increase business costs and impose new liabilities on innocent businesses passed the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee yesterday.
Mandatory Sick Leave
Businesses in the state are facing significant cost increases: increased taxes under Proposition 30, increased workers’ compensation rates, a loss of the federal unemployment insurance credit, increased energy costs, and next month the $1 increase to the minimum wage takes effect, which will significantly increase employers’ costs.
AB 1522 (Gonzalez; D-San Diego) mandates all employers, large and small, to provide all employees in California with paid sick leave, and threatens employers with statutory penalties as well as litigation for alleged violations.
The bill requires that all employers provide any employee who has worked in California for seven days with paid sick leave, at an accrual rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. Any unused sick leave accrued in the preceding year could be carried over to the next year, which is a significant change in existing law. While many employers voluntarily offer sick leave for full-time employees, expanding this to a mandate on all employees to temporary, seasonal, and part-time employees will create a huge burden on employers.
AB 1522 passed …read more
Source: Fullerton Chamber of Commerce
