Kate

The Californian Q4 2019 – Regulation Corner

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REGULATION CORNER

David Chandler, CALSAGA President 

Do you have a copy of the certificate for Powers to Arrest training on file for all of your officers? If not, you are in violation of section 7583.6e2 of the Business and Professions Code. I encourage you to rectify the issue immediately. If a certificate cannot be obtained, it is recommended that you offer the PTA training to your officers so that a certificate may be generated. Don’t forget that the regulations are not satisfied until the officer has completed the Powers to Arrest test with a score of 100 percent.

CALSAGA member companies enjoy the benefit of unlimited access to the Security Officer Training Database. The database allows users to create certificates that are BSIS-approved and satisfy the certificate requirements established in the B&P Code. If you have questions about the database or to get started utilizing this Member Benefit, contact Association Manager Kate Wallace at kate@calsaga.org.

 

This content originally appeared in the Q4 2019 edition of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA. Read past editions of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA.

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Kate

The Californian Q2 2019 – Regulation Corner

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REGULATION CORNER

David Chandler, CALSAGA President 

As stated in section 7582.12 of the California Business and Professions Code, your license shall at all times be posted in a conspicuous place in the principal place of business of the licensee.

What constitutes a “conspicuous place?” The BSIS believes a conspicuous place to be a location that can be seen by the public when entering through the front door. This means that a license hanging in the hallway or posted in a lunch or break room is not compliant. If you are in violation, make sure that you rectify the situation as soon as possible! Each violation may carry a $250 fine.

 

This content originally appeared in the Q2 2019 edition of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA. Read past editions of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA.

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Kate

The Californian Q2 2018 – Regulation Corner

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REGULATION CORNER

David Chandler, CALSAGA President 

The California Code of Regulations is very specific concerning certificates for security officer training modules.

Division 7 of Title 16 Section 7583 of the California Code of Regulations: The certificate shall identify the course(s) taken, the number of hours of training provided, identification of the issuing entity, name of the individual and instructor and a date, and state that the course(s) comply with the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Skills Training Course for Security Guards. The certificate shall be serially numbered for tracking.

Please make sure that all certificates that you are accepting from employees and that you are issuing to officers comply with all requirements. Included as a benefit of membership, CALSAGA members have access to the CALSAGA Training Database. The database allows trainers to track officer’s training and to generate compliant certificates. Click here to learn more about the database and how you can get started using it today!

This content originally appeared in the Q2 2018 edition of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA. Read past editions of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA.

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Kate

The Californian Q1 2018 – Regulation Corner

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REGULATION CORNER

David Chandler, CALSAGA President 

  •  If you are currently operating your PPO as a Corporation, remember that you MUST notify the Bureau of a change of your corporate officers within 30 days. 7582.19 (a)
  • All new corporate officers, or new partners in a partnership, must submit a Personal Identification Form as well as a Live Scan (to CA DOJ) prior to any involvement in any operation related to security. The Bureau must approve before you can begin working with the corporation or partnership.  19 (b)
  •  In a General Partnership, if one of the partners leaves (disassociation for any reason) a NEW application must be submitted (due to the change in the general partnership). A new PPO number will be issued pending approval by the Bureau. 7582.23 ©
  • Please periodically check with the Secretary of State to confirm the information for your organization is the same as the Bureau has on file, including the address of record. Corporations must submit the names of the CEO, CFO and Secretary as well as any other corporate officer who will be active in the business to be licensed. 7582.7 (i)

This content originally appeared in the Q1 2018 edition of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA. Read past editions of The Californian: The Quarterly Newsletter of CALSAGA.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q4 – California Tips the Scales: Employers’ New Obligations to Comply with Pay Transparency and Pay Data Reporting Requirements

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CALIFORNIA TIPS THE SCALES: EMPLOYERS’ NEW OBLIGATIONS TO COMPLY WITH PAY TRANSPARENCY AND PAY DATA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Saba Zafar, Esq. and Jaimee K. Wellerstein, Esq., Bradley, Gmelich + Wellerstein, CALSAGA Legal Advisor

On September 27, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1162 (“SB 1162”), an expansive pay transparency and pay data reporting bill requiring employers to include pay ranges in all job advertisements effective January 1, 2023.  SB 1162 also makes significant changes to California’s existing pay data reporting requirements. 

What Do California Employers Need To Know About SB 1162?

SB 1162 has two components that will be codified under Labor Code section 432.3 and Government Code section 12999. The first relates to pay transparency and the second to the pay data report that is submitted to the Civil Rights Department (“CRD” – formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing).

1. Pay Transparency (Labor Code section 432.3) – Employers must comply with certain pay scale transparency requirements:

a. Employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale for a position in any job posting. This applies even if the employer engages the services of a third party to announce, post, publish or otherwise make a job posting known.

b. All employers must, upon reasonable request, provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant applying for a job (this was already a law but is a good reminder).

c. All employers must, upon request, provide an employee with the pay scale for the current job for which they are employed. 

d. Employers must also maintain records of a job title and the wage rate history for that job for the each employee for the length of the employee’s employment and then for three years after the employee’s separation of employment. The Labor Commissioner can audit these records. 

As to what constitutes a pay scale, it simply means “the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position.” If the employer pays a set salary or hourly wage, then the employer should include that amount in the job posting. 

As a reminder, employers may not inquire about an applicant’s salary history. What can employers still do? Employers can still inquire about an applicant’s salary expectations.

2. Pay Data Reporting (Government Code section 129999) – Employers with 100 or more employees (“Covered Employers”) were already required to report pay data to the CRD and could previously have submitted the same EE0-1 report that they submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). Under amended Government Code section 12999, Covered Employers will have to meet some additional requirements. Below are some of the pertinent (but not all) changes:

a. Covered Employers must submit the pay data report by the second Wednesday of May of each year, rather than in March as previously required;

b. The report must include the number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex for 10 job categories listed in the Code.

c. The report must also include the mean and median hourly rate for each job category for each combination of race, ethnicity, and sex. 

d. Covered Employers who contract with labor contractors must provide a separate report to the CRD. 

e. Employers can pick any pay period between October 1 and December 31 of the reporting year. 

What’s The Penalty for Non-Compliance?

It is incredibly important for employers to comply with these requirements, not just because it is the law, but also because non-compliance comes with penalties. 

For violations of Labor Code section 432.3, an aggrieved person may file a written complaint with the Labor Commissioner within one year after the person learns of the violation. Upon finding of a violation, the Labor Commissioner may assess penalties between $100 and $10,000 per violation!

For violations of Government Code section 12999, the CRD may assess penalties for a failure to file a report up to $100 per employee for the first violation and up to $200 per employee for each subsequent violation (for an employer with 100 employees, that is $10,000 for the first violation and $20,000 for each subsequent violation).

Employer Takeaway: Comply! Comply! Comply! If you do not already have data regarding pay scale for various positions, you should start compiling it now so that you are ready when an employee or applicant inquires about the pay scale for a position or when you need to include the pay scale on a job posting. For the pay data report to the CRD, since the data need only be for one pay period, employers should start compiling this information now so you are prepared to report it in May. As always, the attorneys at Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein, LLP are here to answer any questions you may have about this new law or its impact on your business. 

 Saba Zafar is Special Counsel in Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP’s Employment Law Department. Ms. Zafar has over a decade of experience as an attorney, primarily in employment law. Ms. Zafar focuses her practice of providing strategic advice and counsel in all aspects of employment law and workplace matters, including drafting and implementation of HR policies and procedures, Employment Handbooks, providing advice to clients on personnel issues as well as general business matters.

 

 

Jaimee K. Wellerstein, Esq. is a Partner at Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP, and the Head of the firm’s Employment Department. Jaimee concentrates her practice in representing employers in all aspects of employment law, including defense of wage and hour class actions, PAGA claims, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wrongful discharge, misclassification, and other employment related lawsuits. She also provides employment counseling and training in all of these areas.

Jaimee routinely represents employers in federal and state courts and in arbitration proceedings throughout the state, as well as at administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement, the United States Department of Labor, and other federal and state agencies.

Jaimee assists as a Legal Advisor to CALSAGA, and is a member of ASIS International. She is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating available. jwellerstein@bgwlawyers.com

About Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP

Founded in 2000, Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein, LLP is dedicated to providing sound advice and exceptional results for our clients. Our twenty-five plus skilled, dedicated and diverse attorneys represent individuals and businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of business, employment law and litigation matters.  www.bgwlawyers.com.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q3 – Three Tips to Reduce Overtime, Now.

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THREE TIPS TO REDUCE OVERTIME, NOW. 

Plus: Things to keep in mind when dealing with overtime during a labor shortage.

Gail Tutt, TEAM Software by WorkWave

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the best way to reduce overtime is to stop it before it starts. It’s a little cliché, especially when overtime (and, unfortunately, non-billable overtime) is an inherent part of the security industry. Still, there are several tactics you can use to get a handle on overtime and manage labor costs. 

1. Know your service-level agreements. This doesn’t just mean at the executive level. Because SLAs dictate the service standards and pricing obligations you’re required to deliver to your customers, it’s imperative that any employee who is involved in managing your company’s scheduling is well versed in bill and pay rates by contract. By ensuring understanding in all scheduling roles, you can prevent costly mistakes (like wage creep, which can occur in a variety of scenarios, but especially when officers are scheduled for overtime shifts outside of the scope of what’s budgeted per job.) 

By knowing your SLAs inside and out, your company is also setting up the foundation for best practices in job costing. With industry-specific software solutions to assist in the heavy lifting of tracking and analyzing job performance, you can see at a glance which jobs are lending themselves to your profit margins, and which are under performing.

2. Don’t forget about compliance. In some cases, there’s no way around scheduling overtime without compromising your compliance with state and federal labor law regulations and overtime rules. In our industry, there are compliance risks posed from misclassification, recordkeeping and other hour and wage-related activities that can turn your timekeeping and overtime tracking into a headache. Earlier this year, even, this entity reported a wage settlement (with waiting time penalties) due to an upheld ruling alleging an employer failed to include meal period premiums on wage statements. A different case in 2021 found the California Supreme Court upholding that employers are required to pay meal and rest break violation premiums at the same rate as when paying overtime. Translation: these costs add up quickly.

While many integrated workforce management solutions don’t track compliance for you, they do provide tools to more easily prove compliance. Look for feature sets which include things like time and attendance (including punch times), scheduling, regulation monitoring and reporting to gain well-rounded visibility into your compliance.  

3. Become friends with your data. This point is straightforward: dig into your data early on in your scheduling process. In available TEAM solutions, we recommend including criteria like parameter searches for available guards that fit within the bill rate specified per job. That way, your schedulers will only be able to assign officers to shifts whose rate fits the given budget (see our first point).

Often, we find companies can implement at least one of these tips to help prevent and improve overtime. But we also recognize that the current labor market throws a new wrench into the mix. When it’s hard to find officers to fill shifts in general, of course it becomes more likely for regular shifts to turn into overtime to stay on top of SLAs. While there’s no easy answer, it’s possible resolving this particular overtime challenge can be addressed by refocusing on retention.

Start by taking a few steps back to analyze what your voluntary separations look like. Are officers leaving for higher hourly rates or benefits? Or are they leaving for more flexibility in their schedules? Maybe they’re pivoting careers into adjacent industries or taking even bigger leaps into entirely new verticals. The common theme of all these scenarios is that it is likely not a separation on bad terms. This could be an opportunity to think outside the box in the form of a self-scheduling program. This way, employees stay in your employee management system (as part-time or ad hoc employees) and can pick up shifts based on when they want to work (even if they are employed elsewhere). While it may not work for everyone, it is an interesting tactic to reduce overtime needs while increasing employee retention.

It’s hard to theorize if there will ever be a world without overtime in some capacity. But, there are steps you can take to improve this metric now. See how at teamsoftware.com. 

Gail has spent over 35 years in the private sector as a senior level finance and operations manager across multiple industry. Most recently CFO of a regional security company in San Jose, CA, Gail now works providing invaluable insight and expertise as a business consultant with TEAM Software.  Her hobbies include breeding and showing standard wirehair dachshunds, hiking and spending time with her family.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q2 – PREPARING FOR YOUR BSIS RECORDS AUDIT

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PREPARING FOR YOUR BSIS RECORDS AUDIT

Barry A. Bradley, Esq., Managing Partner, Bradley, Gmelich + Wellerstein, CALSAGA Legal Advisor

So, you received a letter from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services advising that they will be conducting “a routine inspection” of your documents.  It should take no more than two hours (on the average) and the meeting should include the owner(s), executive principals and/or possibly administrative staff “to assess and discuss key aspects of your daily operations” as a PPO.

ALARMS should be going off for you!  There is nothing routine about this. Compliance audits are increasing and you should expect one this year.  In every instance where our clients have contacted us, they have been out of compliance – some just a little, others a lot.  This, despite their best intentions.  

The opportunity to fix your records before you are audited could mean the difference between no citation at all, versus an administrative fine, a cease and desist order, and potential suspension or revocation of your PPO license.  This all becomes very public, too. Make no mistake about it: BSIS is here to regulate, not to collaborate.

Areas Of Concern

As a PPO licensee, you have obligations that will require you to address various areas.  What follows are some of the broad categories that will be inspected.

PPO Records, Vehicles and Uniforms:

  • Are your PPO license and all branch licenses properly displayed.
  • Are your records kept at your principle place of business – as recorded with the Bureau?
  • Are your current badges and patches in conformity with the original BSIS approval?
  • Are your current badges, patches and insignias in compliance with the Private Security Services Act?
  • Are your Certificates of Insurance for both workers compensation and for General Liability in compliance with Business & Professions Code 7583.39 as well as the California Code of Regulations?  
  • Do your advertisements display your PPO number? This might include websites, social media, vehicles, business cards and brochures.
  • Is your business structure in compliance with statutes?
  • Do your business records match the Secretary of State records, as well as BSIS records?
  • Are your patrol vehicles in compliance with the Vehicle Code and the B&P Code regarding their light bars and decals?
  • Are your uniforms in compliance with Business & Professions Code section 7582.26?

Employee Records:

  • Do you maintain the name, address, commencing date of employment, position, and date of termination of each employee in compliance with the Code?
  • Do you maintain current guard card and firearm qualification permit information?
  • Personnel Files: do they contain guard card information, training, and required certifications? (This may include pepper spray and baton permits, as well.)
  • Do you have proper credentials for your off-duty Peace Officers, including a letter from their agency?

Weapons:

  • Do you maintain the required log for all deadly weapons used on duty, including firearms and batons, in compliance with the Code of Regulations? 

Training Certificates and Records :

  • Do you have Certificates of Completion for each course or series of courses for each and every security guard?
  • Do your Certificates contain the required language and information?
  • Do you maintain proof of completion for the Powers to Arrest training for all security guards.
  • Do you have a certificate of proficiency from a licensed training facility for all of your armed officers?
  • Do you maintain proof of completion of the 32 hours of security guard skills training for all guards. (16 in 30 days / 16 in 6 months) and continuing annual training (8 hours)?

RECOMMENDATION: This list is by no means exhaustive.  We recommend a quick legal review well before your audit date.  There will always be blind spots – some significant and some minor.  Our goal, and yours, should be to become compliant (and hopefully before your “routine inspection” by the Bureau).

 

Barry A. Bradley is the Managing Partner of Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP located in Glendale, California, where he oversees the Employment and Business Teams at the firm.  A former Deputy District Attorney, Barry’s practice concentrates on representing business owners in employment, business and licensing issues, as well as defending litigated cases involving negligent security, employment and business related issues.  The firm acts as general counsel for many security companies in California.  Barry is a volunteer Legal Advisor to the California Association of Licensed Agencies, Guards, & Associates (CALSAGA), and multiple other non-profits.  

He has been conferred an AV-Preeminent Peer Rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating attainable, and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for the past 16 consecutive years in the area of Business Litigation. Barry can be reached at bbradley@bgwlawyers.com / 818-243-5200.

About Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP

Founded in 2000, Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein, LLP is dedicated to providing sound advice and exceptional results for our clients. Our twenty-five plus skilled, dedicated and diverse attorneys represent individuals and businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of business, employment law and litigation matters.  www.bgwlawyers.com.

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Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q2 – WORKERS COMPENSATION AUDITS – BE PREPARED!

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WORKERS COMPENSATION AUDITS – BE PREPARED!

Shaun Kelly, Tolman & Wiker, CALSAGA Preferred Broker

Hope everyone is doing well and getting out to enjoy more activities outdoors!

Over the past 6 to 12 months, we have been receiving more calls from employers (PPOs) than ever before regarding Workers Compensation Audits. Their concern is that some auditors are requesting more information than they have in previous years. The reasoning behind the auditor’s request for additional information is the result of Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5). This is the radical change in the definition of Independent Contractor status in California. And, as a result, Workers Compensation auditors are requesting additional information to obtain verification that employers are classifying their workers correctly and collecting the appropriate premiums.

AB-5 implemented the ABC Test and put the responsibility on the employers to determine the status of their workers. In order to hire and classify a worker as an independent contractor, the employer must demonstrate that all 3 of the independent contractor requirements are satisfied. These 3 requirements include the following:

  1. The worker is free from control and direction in the performance of services; and
  2. The worker is performing work outside of the usual course of the business of the hiring company; and
  3. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business.

Even before the implementation of AB-5, a Guard carded security worker is not allowed to work as an independent contractor.

Workers Compensation auditors are now requesting financials in conjunction with the usual 941 quarterly payroll reports and other documents to determine if payments have been made to independent contractors. Per the terms and conditions of the Workers Compensation policy, audits are mandatory and in Part 5 G-Audits; auditors are able to request the following: “You (policyholder) will let us examine and audit your records that relate to this policy. These records include ledgers, journals, registers, vouchers, contracts, tax reports, payroll and disbursement records, and programs for storing and retrieving data. We may conduct the audits during business regular business hours during the policy period and within three years after the policy period ends. Information developed by audit will be used to determine final premium. Insurance rate service organizations have the same rights we have under this provision.” 

Since AB-5 was signed into law in 2019, Workers Compensation policies expiring in 2021 and going forward are being affected by the new legislation.

Please be prepared to address the request from the auditors and provide the following documents:

  • Workers Compensation reports and/or Payroll Journals and/or Payroll Summaries
  • Federal (941) and State (SUI) quarterly tax returns that correspond with your policy period
  • List of Executive Officers, Owners or Partners (Ownership %, Amount Paid, Job Duties and Titles)
  • List of employees that have been reported in Clerical (8810) and/or Outside Sales (8742)
  • Access to General Ledger and Cash Disbursements Records
  • For any subcontract, please have certificates of insurance available for review along with the amount paid and their job duties*

*It is very important to request insurance certificates from all subcontractors that you hire, or the cost of the subcontractors you hire will be included in your final premium calculation.

Auditors are being required to request this information. Hopefully now you will have a better understanding of why it is being requested.

Thanks and take care.

Shaun Kelly joined Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services in 2005.  He specializes in all lines of property and casualty insurance for industries including contract security firms, agriculture, construction, oil and gas. Shaun received a BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance from California State University in Fresno, California. He is an active member of several industry associations, including the Association CALSAGA, the Kern County Builders Exchange and the Independent Insurance Agents of Kern County. Shaun can be reached at 661-616-4700 or skelly@tolmanandwiker.com.

 

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Kate

The Californian 2022 Q1 – GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE – ARE YOU COVERED?

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GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE – ARE YOU COVERED?

Shaun Kelly, Tolman & Wiker, CALSAGA Preferred Broker

Happy New Year and hope everyone is doing well!

Over time, insurance carriers experience losses or events that make them reconsider providing coverage for certain types of exposures under the Commercial General Liability policy. It is important to note that as each insurance carrier evaluates these exposures, they develop their own underwriting guidelines and can or will modify the terms and conditions in their own policies to minimize risk. It is likely that most of you have not read through your entire policy to understand the coverage terms and conditions, unless you have insomnia and have nothing better to do. To assist you in understanding the Commercial General Liability coverage for contract security services, here is the short version of what to look for, “Exclusions”. 

Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies are intended to provide coverage to the Named Insured for their negligence (resulting from the services provided) for bodily injury, property damage, personal & advertising injury to a 3rd party. Most insurance carriers use a standard ISO CGL form and attach endorsements and exclusions to add, remove or limit coverage. We are not going to go through the entire CGL policy, however we are going to discuss some of the exclusions that may be on your CGL policy that you need to be aware of. 

The following “Exclusions” may be part of your CGL policy (Some exclusions may be added back with underwriting approval and additional premium):

  • Terrorism
  • Pollution
  • Communicable Disease
  • Personal and Confidential Information Disclosure (Cyber liability)
  • Employment Practices Liability
  • Employers Liability (Part of Workers Compensation policy)
  • Abuse and Molestation
  • Firearms
  • Unmanned Aircraft
  • Animal exclusion
  • Mobile Equipment (ie. Golf carts, scooters, segways…any vehicle licensed for the public road should be on an auto policy)
  • Cannabis Operations
  • Public/Low Income Housing
  • Airports
  • Crowd Control/Concert Facilities/Sporting Events
  • Liquor Establishments: bars, hotel bars, nightclubs, lounges…
  • Bodyguards: High Profile Individuals/Entertainers/Athletes…
  • Baggage checking
  • Inside Retail/Loss Prevention
  • Convenience Stores
  • Fast Food Restaurants
  • Schools

 

These “Exclusions” may not apply to all policies and your policy may have other exclusions not listed above. If you are providing security services that involves any of the above, please review your policy.

At the end of the day, including all of your operations (client exposures) in your application for Commercial General Liability coverage is critical to obtaining the proper coverage. Policies can be modified to include some of the high risk exposures and remove exclusions, with approval from the insurance carrier. In regards to some of the extremely high risk exposures (for example, Crowd Control/Concerts/Sporting Events, Low Income Housing, Liquor Establishments, Inside Retail/Loss Prevention, High Profile Individuals/Entertainers/Athletes…) that the standard insurance carriers will not accept, specialty insurance carriers are available.

Take care and be safe.

Shaun Kelly joined Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services in 2005.  He specializes in all lines of property and casualty insurance for industries including contract security firms, agriculture, construction, oil and gas. Shaun received a BS in Business Administration with a major in Finance from California State University in Fresno, California. He is an active member of several industry associations, including the Association CALSAGA, the Kern County Builders Exchange and the Independent Insurance Agents of Kern County. Shaun can be reached at 661-616-4700 or skelly@tolmanandwiker.com.

 

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q4 – SIX COMPLIANCE TRENDS TO FOLLOW RIGHT NOW

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SIX COMPLIANCE TRENDS TO FOLLOW RIGHT NOW

Keep yourself informed and your business in compliance.

Team Software

The landscape for labor, tax and payroll compliance is always shifting. At TEAM, we keep our eye on these topics because we know how challenging it can be to stay informed. We understand how important (and challenging) it is for janitorial and security contractors to stay in compliance. And, we know how costly noncompliance can be. That’s why we’re bringing you an updated list of compliance trends for you to follow.

Workplace Regulations for Nursing Mothers

What’s going on?

In 2018, both California and New York City provided additional legislation at the state and city level to support the needs of nursing mothers. The intent of the state and local mandate is to augment the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) legislation that was enacted in 2010.

This legislation focuses on offering the amount of time and breaks needed by nursing mothers as well as the physical space that must be available to pump breast milk. The trend is that a lactation space must be a private room and not a bathroom. Legislation also covers the duration of the right to pump, which can be up to three years following the birth of her child.

What does this mean for you?

Many companies are using staff scheduling to support the lactation mandate along with meal and rest breaks. Most jobs in service-related industries, especially in security companies, can’t be un-staffed, so businesses have started scheduling lunches and breaks to ensure they can cover the breaks and work area. Scheduling and time and attendance software can help manage the staffing challenges that come along with these labor mandates, from ensuring coverage through smart scheduling practices to providing meal and rest break notifications and audit trails.

 

Legal Medical Marijuana Use

What’s going on?

While all recreational and medical marijuana use is still illegal under federal law, many states are facing a new discussion around how to handle medical marijuana use in relation to employment law. Medical marijuana is not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – yet. However, many state employment laws are changing to accommodate the legal use of medical marijuana. The most recent state changes are coming from California, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The key component to most of these laws is whether reasonable accommodations can be provided without jeopardizing the ability of the employer to maintain a safe and productive workplace.

 

What does this mean for you?

From an employer’s perspective, the most significant change to the law may be the addition of explicit permissions to take medical marijuana use into consideration when the applicant or employee holds, or will hold, a position with safety-sensitive job duties. We recommend reviewing your company’s drug testing policy on an ongoing basis to be prepared for future legislation in your state, especially if you operate in one of the 46 states where some form of medical marijuana has already been legalized.

This article highlights two of the U.S. labor, tax and payroll compliance updates we’re watching right now. For the other four, download our free Compliance eBook.

TEAM Software is dedicated to ensuring our software solutions meet the ever-changing compliance needs of our customers. While we’re committed to keeping you informed, it’s important to do your own research, and consult your own legal and tax advisors when necessary, too. Continue to use industry resources such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the American Payroll Association (APA) to stay informed on all compliance updates.

Continue reading the 2019 Q4 edition of The Californian

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