Cal-Peculiarities: How California Employment Law is Different 2022 Edition

Seyfarth Shaw LLP  www.seyfarth.com 2022 Cal-Peculiarities | 359 16. Employer Reporting, Disclosure Requirements 16.1 New Hires 16.1.1 Reporting Although the duty comes from federal law, all California employers must report to the California New Employee Registry, within 20 days of the start of work, the following information about each newly-hired California employee (whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal): the employee’s first and last name and middle initial, social security number, home address, and start-of-work date . 1 The employer must also report the employer’s business name and address, California employer payroll tax account number, Federal Employer Identification Number, and the contact person’s name and telephone number. This requirement applies to employees hired as part of the acquisition of an ongoing business. Form DE 34, fit for this purpose, can be found on-line . 2 T he penalty for failing to report is $24 per hire, and $490 if the failure to report is part of an agreement between the employer and the employe e. 3 M ultistate employers that file electronically may elect to report all new hires to one state in which they have employees . 4 16.1.2 Disclosure California’s self-righteously entitled Wage Theft Protection Act requires employers to notify employees, at the time of hire, of these facts: (1) the employee’s rate or rates of pay and the basis thereof (e.g., hourly, salary, commission, etc.), including any applicable overtime rates, (2) allowances, if any, claimed as part of the minimum wage, including meal or lodging allowances, (3) the regular payday designated by the employer, (4) the name, address, and telephone number of the employer, including any “doing business as” names used by the employer, (5) the name, address, and telephone number of the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier, and (6) any other information the Labor Commissioner deems “material and necessary. ” 5 E mployers must now also include information about paid sick leave rights in the Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice that employers must provide to nonexempt employees upon hire (see § 2.14.1 ). 6 Employers must give written notice of any changes to this information within seven calendar days, unless the changes are reflected in a timely itemized wage statement or other writin g. 7 T he statute exempts government employees, employees who are exempt from the payment of overtime wages under California law, and employees covered by certain collective bargaining agreements . 8 Temporary services employers must include in the notice the name, the physical address of the main office, the mailing address (if different from the physical address) of the main office, and the telephone number of the legal entity for whom the employee will perform work, and any other information the Labor Commissioner deems “material and necessary. ” 9 Exempted from these requirements are security services companies that solely provide security services and that are licensed by the California Department of Consumer Affairs . 10 The Labor Commissioner has prepared a template notice that employers may use to fulfill their statutory obligations . 11 T he DLSE also has issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) . 12 Employers must consider whether to use the DLSE template or to use a customized notice while ensuring that it is disclosing all the required information.