New 2022 Employment Laws You Need To Know About

The California Legislature has passed some new laws and measures which will be going into effect for 2022. The legislature had a very busy session and passed a number of new measures which were all signed into effect by the governor, however, we will only be touching on a few of those relevant to employment here. These changes could result in liability for employers who do not adhere to them and may give you, the employee, sufficient grounds to bring a wrongful termination suit if you are fired as a result. If you believe you have faced unfair or illegal treatment in the workplace and have suffered detrimental effects as a consequence, the best thing that you can do is talk to a California employment law attorney as soon as possible. Many employment law claims have a very short period of time in which you can file, so it’s critical to talk to someone sooner rather than later, at least to get an understanding of your options. If you would like to speak to an employment law attorney one-on-one about your case, you are welcome to schedule a consultation with the Costanzo Law Firm.

New Laws for Warehouse Employees

California is home to some of the largest warehouses and manufacturing facilities in the nation, and hundreds of thousands of California residents are warehouse employees. A new law, AB 701, makes it harder for warehouses to fire employees ‘for cause.’ California is an at-will employment state, which means that an employee can quit or be fired at any time for any reason–well, for any legal reason. If an employer fires you and you allege that you were fired for a discriminatory reason, the employer is given an opportunity to  provide a non-discriminatory reason for firing you, but they must have evidence to support their claim. The new laws apply to any warehouse in California that has at least 100 employees, or any business that has at least 1,000 employees dispersed among multiple California warehouses. The law requires employers to provide a written description of any performance or production quotas that the employee is responsible for meeting, as well as what the consequence will be for failing to meet them. This law will also make it illegal for an employer to fire an employee for failing to meet a quota that they were not previously informed of in writing. This could create a cause of action for warehouse employees who face wrongful termination in the future.

Food Delivery Workers

If you work in food delivery, such as for Uber Eats or another delivery platform, you will want to know about AB 206. This new law makes tip sharing illegal for food delivery platforms. Instead, all tips given to drivers must be provided to drivers in their entirety and no portion of the tip may be retained by the delivery platform.

Schedule a Consultation with the Costanzo Law Firm

If you have suffered detrimental employment action or financial harm as a result of illegal or discriminatory treatment by your California employer, the experienced San Jose employment law attorneys at the Costanzo Law Firm can help. Contact the Costanzo Law Firm today to schedule your personalized consultation.

Resource:

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB701