More Legal Updates

As we wrote last month, there have been some changes and additions to federal and state laws that could affect your company.

One such update, the Written Commission Agreement (AB 1396) requires employers to have a written contract with commission employees that specifies the method by which the commission is calculated and paid. Employees paid by commission must have this plan in writing by January 1, 2013.

We’d like to add that many employers may wish go beyond the requirements and include when commission is earned (versus paid out), any conditions that need to be met for a commission to be earned, any conditions that disqualify an employee from earning a commission, and what happens if the employment is terminated and there are outstanding unpaid and/or unearned commissions.

Addressing all of the above in writing will go a long way to protecting you and the employee.

A few other updates, this one for San Francisco: The City of San Francisco has city ordinances that require employers to provide paid sick leave and to make a contribution to medical reimbursement accounts for each employee. The medical reimbursement rate for 2012 is $2.20/hour. The sick leave accrual rate is 1 hour for every 30 hours worked up to 72 hours. The City of San Francisco also has a living wage ordinance for all employers. The minimum wage will be $10.24 starting January 1, 2012.

And finally, the minimum wage for exempt computer professionals in California has increased to $38.89 per hour or $81,026.25 annually effective January 1, 2012.

We’ll continue to keep you apprised of state and federal law changes impacting the workplace.