During California’s 2024 legislative session, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several new employment laws impacting California employers. Unless otherwise specified, the laws summarized below take effect on January 1, 2025.
In the new year, the general statewide minimum wage will increase by 50 cents, to $16.50 per hour, for all employers, regardless of size. Notably, voters rejected Proposition 32, which would have increased the minimum wage to $18 for all employers by 2026. Employers should remember, however, that many cities and counties require a higher minimum wage than the state’s minimum wage.
In enacting Senate Bill (SB) 1137, California became the first US state to prohibit discrimination on the basis of the intersection, or combination, of two or more protected characteristics (e.g., race, sex, age, disability, etc.). The law defines “intersectionality” as “an analytical framework that sets forth that different forms of inequality operate together, exacerbate each other, and can result in amplified forms of prejudice and harm.” Notably, this intersectionality concept is one recently recognized by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s latest enforcement guidance on harassment in the workplace.
Assembly Bill (AB) 1815 amends the state’s existing CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair) Act, which generally...
In a combative interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral on...