On June 30, 2017, San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee signed an ordinance, providing employees in the City of San Francisco with additional lactation rights.  The “Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance,” will take effect on January 1, 2018 and applies to all City employees, including those who work part-time.  The ordinance is similar to existing state and federal law, but contains additional requirements.

What Does The Ordinance Require?

Location Specifics

Employers must provide a lactation location other than a bathroom that is in close proximity to the employee’s work area.  The location must be shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public.   It must have the following features:

1)      Safe, clean, and free of toxic or hazardous materials;

2)      Contain a surface (e.g. a table or shelf) to place a breast pump and personal items;

3)      Contain a place to sit;

4)      Have a door that locks from within;

5)      Be at least 50 square feet; and

6)      Have at least one electrical outlet per lactation station.

The room must be located within 500 feet or two adjacent floors from the farthest employee it is designated to serve.  The employer must also provide a refrigerator where the employee can store breast milk and access to a sink with running water

The lactation location can be a room that is also used for other purposes, so long as the employer provides notice that the primary use of the room is for lactation which takes precedence over other uses.

An employer may be exempt from the ordinance’s requirements if it can establish that the requirements would impose an undue hardship (significant expense or operational difficulty in relation to the employer’s size, financial resources, nature, location, or physical space).

            Employer Policy

Employers must develop and implement a written Lactation Accommodation Policy.  The policy must:

1)      State that employees have a right to request lactation accommodation,

2)      Identify a process by which an employee may request lactation accommodation, (including how an employee may submit a request, a requirement that the employer respond within 5 business days, and a requirement that the employer and employee engage in an interactive process to determine the appropriate lactation breaks and location);

3)      If the employer is exempt from the ordinance’s requirements, the employer must state the basis for denial of the lactation accommodation; and

4)      Prohibit retaliation against an employee for exercising her rights under this ordinance.

The Lactation Accommodation Policy must be distributed to all employees upon hiring and offered to any employee who asks about or requests pregnancy or parental leave.  If the employer has an employee handbook or policies, the Lactation Accommodation Policy must be included.

Employer Record Retention Requirement

Employers are required to maintain specific records of requests for lactation accommodation made pursuant to the employer’s policy, for 3 years.

            Enforcement and Penalties

San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) is charged with enforcing the law and giving notices to correct.  After a one-year grace period, beginning January 1, 2019, the OLSE may impose administrative penalties up to $500 for each violation

Existing State and Federal Requirements

The ordinance combines and expands upon existing federal and state laws that already address lactation in the workplace.  (See 29 U.S.C §207(r); Cal. Labor Code 1030-1033.)  Among other expansions of the law, neither federal nor California law currently requires as many specific features of the lactation room, a formal written policy, or recordkeeping and retention.

Please consult legal counsel for details regarding the ordinance’s specific requirements.  We recommend reviewing and updating your existing lactation accommodation policies before January 1, 2018.

High times at Florida workplaces may or may not become more prevalent with a new law that allows the medical use of stronger marijuana by a greater number of patients.

The legal use of medical marijuana is not completely new there.  In 2014, Florida legalized the medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients who are terminally ill with less than a year to live.  In November 2016, Floridians went to the ballot box and voted in by a super majority the Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, also known as Amendment 2.  The passage of that ballot initiative allowed medical marijuana to be given to patients so long as a physician believes the medical benefits of using marijuana outweigh the potential health risks.

Read the full article at the HRUSA Blog here: http://blog.hrusa.com/blog/new-florida-law-allows-patients-to-use-more-potent-pot/.

On July 19, 2017 Mayor Lee signed the Parity in Pay Ordinance.   Below is a brief summary of the Ordinance which will go into effect on July 1, 2018.

  • The Ordinance provides findings from the 2015 United States Census Bureau report that show that in San Francisco women are paid on average 84 cents for every dollar a man makes. Women of color are paid even less. African American women are paid only 60 cents to each dollar paid to men. Latinas are paid only 55 cents to each dollar paid to men. The Ordinance finds that the problematic practices of seeking salary history from job applicants and relying on their current or past salaries to set employees’ pay rates contribute to the gender wage gap by perpetuating wage inequalities across the occupational spectrum.
  • The Ordinance shall cover all Applicants within the geographic boundaries of the “City” (which is defined as both the city and county of San Francisco) and whose application, in whole or part, will be solicited, received, processed or considered, whether or not through an interview, in the City. However, the ordinance will not apply to a person applying for employment with their current employer.
  • “Employers” covered by the Ordinance include: any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, labor organization, group of persons, association, or other organization however organized, which is or should be required to be registered to do business in the City. Job placement and referral agencies and other employment agencies are also covered. Except for the City, other local, state and federal employers are not covered.

Prohibitions under the Ordinance.

  • An Employer shall not consider or rely on an Applicant’s Salary History as a factor in determining whether to offer employment to an Applicant or what Salary to offer an Applicant.
  • An Employer shall not inquire about an Applicant’s Salary History.
  • An Employer shall not refuse to hire or otherwise disfavor, injure, or retaliate against an Applicant for not disclosing his or her Salary History to the Employer.
  • An Employer shall not release the Salary History of any current or former employee to that person’s Employer or prospective Employer without written authorization from the current or former employee unless the release of Salary History is required by law, is part of a publicly available record, or is subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
  • “Salary” means an Applicant’s financial compensation in exchange for labor, including but not limited to wages, commissions, and any monetary emolument.
  • “Salary History” means an Applicant’s current and past Salary in the Applicant’s current position, or in a prior position with the current Employer or a prior Employer. Salary History does not include any objective measure of the Applicant’s productivity such as revenue, sales, or other production reports.
  • Where an Applicant voluntarily and without prompting discloses Salary History to a prospective Employer, or provides written authorization for such information to be disclosed from a former employer, nothing in the Ordinance prohibits the Employer from considering that voluntarily disclosed Salary History in determining Salary for such Applicant or verifying such Applicant’s Salary History. However, Salary History by itself shall not be used to justify paying any employee of a different sex, race or ethnicity less than such Applicant or prospective employee for doing substantially similar work under similar working conditions in accordance with California Labor Code section 1197.5.

Notice and Posting Requirements.

  • Before the Ordinance goes into effect in July 2018, the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) shall publish and make available to Employers in English, Spanish, Chinese, and all languages spoken by more than 5% of the workforce in San Francisco, a notice suitable for posting by Employers in the workplace informing Applicants and employees of their rights under the Ordinance.
  • Employers must post the OLSE notice in a conspicuous place at every workplace, job site, or other location in the City or on City property under the Employer’s control and frequently visited by their employees or Applicants, and shall send a copy of the notice to each labor union or representative of workers, as applicable.

Enforcement and Penalties.

  • From July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019, the OLSE will issue a warning and notice to correct if the Ordinance is violated.
  • Starting July 1, 2019, for any subsequent violation other than a first violation (including a first violation occurring before that date), the OLSE may impose an administrative penalty of no more than $100 that the Employer must pay to the City for each employee or Applicant to whom the violation occurred. Thereafter, for subsequent violations occurring within 12 months of that violation, the penalty may increase to no more than $200 for the second violation, and to no more than $500 for each additional violation. The penalty shall be payable to the City for each employee or Applicant whose rights were violated.
  • The OLSE may also initiate an administrative action against an Employer. Before the effective date of the Ordinance in July 2018, the OLSE will establish rules and procedures for the administrative process. The OLSE may also refer matters to the City Attorney who may initiate a civil action.

More details regarding the Parity in Pay Ordinance can be found at: https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=5282302&GUID=9B58E3DF-EBD7-46FC-BFFB-32E073CFF9E0

On July 17, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) released a revised version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.  Instructions for how to download Form I-9 are available on the USCIS Form I-9 page. Employers can use this revised version immediately or continue using Form I-9 with a revision date of 11/14/16 N through September 17th.  However, beginning September 18, 2017, employers must use the revised form with a revision date of 07/17/17 N.  Also, employers must continue following existing storage and retention rules for any previously completed Form I-9.

The USCIS publication regarding the revised form summarizes the changes to the Form I-9 as follows:

Revisions to the Form I-9 instructions:

  • We changed the name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
  • We removed “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”

Revisions related to the List of Acceptable Documents on Form I-9:

  • We added the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) to List C. Employers completing Form I-9 on a computer will be able to select Form FS-240 from the drop-down menus available in List C of Sections 2 and 3. E-Verify users will also be able to select Form FS-240 when creating a case for an employee who has presented this document for Form I-9.
  • We combined all the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350, and Form FS-240) into selection C #2 in List C.
  • We renumbered all List C documents except the Social Security card. For example, the employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security on List C changed from List C #8 to List C #7.

The USCIS also revised the Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274), which helps employers navigate the requirements for compliance with Form I-9 obligations.

More information can be obtained at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/revised-form-i-9-now-available.

At its meeting on July 17, 2017, the Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC) addressed a conflict between its regulations and OSHA’s regulations, regarding gender-neutral restroom facilities.

AB 1732, enacted as Health and Safety Code section 118600, which applies to single-user toilet facilities.  Section 118600 defines single-user toilet facilities as those that have only one “water closet” and (zero or) one urinal.  All such single-user toilet facilities must be re-designated as “gender neutral” under this new law.  OSHA’s regulations, under title 8 section 1526 (construction jobsites), section 3364 (general industry), section 3457 (agricultural operations), and section 5192 (hazardous waste operations and emergency response) conflict with this rule, to the extent that they require employers to provide a certain number of separate toilet facilities for males and females based on the numbers of employees of each sex.

The related DFEH Regulation, section 11034(e)(2)(B), currently reads “Employers and other covered entities with single-occupancy facilities under their control shall use gender-neutral signage for those facilities such as “Restroom” “Unisex” “gender Neutral” “All Gender Restroom,” etc.”  This is consistent with Health and Safety Code section 118600. 

OSHA has announced, on its website here <https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/toilet-facilities-FAQ.html> that it will enforce its regulations in a manner to make AB1732 consistent with OSHA regulations for flush toilets: “Health and Safety Code section 118600 takes precedence over the requirements of Title 8 sections 1526, 3364, 3457, and 5192 in cases where employers provide single-user toilet facilities with flush toilets for their employees. In those situations, Cal/OSHA still enforces the total numbers of toilet facilities required for males and females combined, as well as the individual numbers required for males and females separately, as provided in Title 8 sections 1526, 3364, 3457, and 5192, but no longer enforces the requirement that a toilet facility with a flush toilet be designated as single-gender if it is single-user.”

In that same FAQ, however, OSHA states that “toilet facilities that are multiple-user or that contain other than a flush toilet (e.g., chemical toilets, recirculating toilets, combustion toilets, biological toilets, and sanitary privies) are not covered by section 118600 and must still be provided separately for males and females.” Therefore, OSHA will enforce its regulations for non-flush toilets – like a port-a-potty – for those industries.

The FEHC proposed an amendment to FEHA regulation, section 11034(e)(2)(B), on an emergency basis, to eliminate the conflict with OSHA regulations with respect to privies, chemical toilets, and other “non-water carriage disposal facilities” (toilets that do not flush with water).  Apparently due to very high percentage of men in these industries, there are concerns about health and safety if such portable toilets out in the field were required to be designated as gender-neutral.

Section 11034(e)(2)(B) currently reads:

B.  Employers and other covered entities with single-occupancy facilities under their control shall use gender-neutral signage for those facilities such as “Restroom” “Unisex” “gender Neutral” “All Gender Restroom,” etc.

To address this inconsistency with OSHA’s regs, the council considered, and voted to submit an emergency rulemaking proposal to the Office of Administrative Law for an emergency rulemaking to modify 11034(e)(2)(B).

The proposed new language that will be submitted to the OAL is underlined:

11034(e)(2)(B) Employers and other covered entities with single-occupancy facilities under their control shall use gender-neutral signage for those facilities such as “Restroom” “Unisex” “gender Neutral” “All Gender Restroom,” etc.  This subsection does not apply to nonwater carriage disposal facilities in those work places covered by California Code of Regulations, title 8, sections 1526 (construction), 3364 (general industry), 3457 (agricultural operations), and 5192 (hazardous waste operations and emergency response) which require employers to provide separate toilet facilities for males and females based on the numbers of employees of each sex. However, all other subsections of this section apply to such employers.

The intent of the last sentence is to make clear that persons may still use the facility corresponding to the employee’s gender identity or expression (subsection (e)(2)(A)), regardless of the signage on the door.

The Council voted that the department should submit this proposed change to the OAL for emergency rulemaking authorization immediately.

Once submitted, the proposed rule will undergo a 5-day public comment and OAL review. If granted by the OAL, the emergency rule will become effective upon filing with the Secretary of State and is effective for 180 days.  This gives the agency time to make the emergency regulation permanent through its regular rulemaking process.