Additional Employment Laws for 2008
In addition to the new laws going into effect on January 1, 2008 that were described in our blog entry of November 20th, employers need to be aware of the following:
--Assembly Bill 650: Effective January 1, 2008, this law requires California employers (meaning those subject to and required to provide unemployment insurance to their employees under the Unemployment Insurance Code) to provide a new notice to employees along with their annual wage summaries (i.e., 1099 or W-2 forms). The new written notice provides information about employees' possible right to take an Earned Income Tax Credit on their federal tax returns, and must be hand-delivered or mailed to employees within one week before or after, or at the same time, that the annual wage summaries are provided. Note that employers may not satisfy this obligation by posting the notice on an employee bulletin board or delivering it through interoffice mail, although those methods may be used to supplement the hand-delivered or mailed notice. Click here to view the language that must be included in this notice.
--Senate Bill 1618: Pursuant to California Labor Code section 226, California employers are required to provide certain information on employees' pay stubs, including the employees' names and social security numbers. This law, enacted in 2004, mandates that effective January 1, 2008, only the last four digits of an employee's social security number, or an employee identification number other than a social security number, be shown on the paystubs. Click here to view amended Labor Code section 226, which describes this requirement in detail.