The following is a sampling of some of the pending employment-related bills that have been introduced since January 2003. We urge you to take positions on these specific bills by contacting your local legislators (see link below) or calling our office for more information.

CA - THE AB'S
AB 76: Harassment (Corbett)
Provides that an employer will be held liable under the provisions of the Fair Employment and Housing Act for the harassment of a worker by any person even those over whom an employer has no managerial or disciplinary authority, such as clients or customers.

AB 196: Gender Identity Discrimination (Leno)
Creates new basis for employment discrimination lawsuits for gender identity discrimination under Fair Employment and Housing Act.

AB 209: ADA Violations (Leslie)
Gives businesses opportunity to repair Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility violations before going to court.

AB 274: Retaliation (Koretz)
Establishes a new rebuttable presumption that retaliation occurred if any person discharges, demotes, suspends or reduces the hours of work or pay of an employee within 90 days after the employee exercises rights under the Labor Code.

AB 572: Retaliation (Yee)
Expands basis for workplace retaliation claims, in addition to establishing new personal liability, new crimes, substantial fines and jail time for California employers.

AB 1223: Mass Layoffs (McCarthy)
Repeals the 2002 legislation that established a new, parallel, state version of the federal WARN Act requirements with new notices, new fines, increased unemployment insurance tax liability and increased risk of lawsuits.

AB 1229: Harassment (Simitian)
Declares the Legislature's intent that harassment based on the preferential treatment of a paramour may constitute a hostile work environment, and rejects the interpretation given to existing law by the California Court of Appeal in Mackey v. Department of Corrections, et al.

AB 1327: Family Disability Insurance (Wyland)
Provides that only businesses that employ 50 or more individuals within a 75-mile radius of the worksite of the individual requesting leave are subject to the new family temporary disability insurance program that will go into effect on 1/1/04. The bill would also require an individual, to be eligible for benefits, to work at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period prior to the period for which the individual is requesting the family temporary disability leave.

AB 1582: Harassment (Koretz)
Creates a new basis for workplace harassment lawsuits by adding exposure to an "abusive workplace environment" to the list of prohibited employment practices.

AB 1715: Arbitration (Corbett)
Invalidates arbitration agreements between employers and employees that relate to employment practices covered by the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) that are required as a condition of employment or continued employment.

CA - THE SB'S
SB 57: Minimum Wage (Burton & Alarcon)
Mandates yearly increases of the state minimum wage by linking the wage to the California Urban Consumer Price Index.

SB 573: Wage and Hour Violations (Alarcon)
Requires state Labor Commissioner to develop and implement a program that triggers tax audits by state taxing authorities to be used any time an employer meets yet to be specified circumstances.

SB 996: Living Wage (Alarcon)
Requires that the IWC establish an indexed living wage rate of at least $12.00 per hour if a company does not offer health insurance beginning in 2004 for state service contractors with 50 or more employees as well as for all employers that receive $100k or more in economic development money from the state in the form of tax benefits, tax credits, exemptions, loans or grants.

SB 1010: Employment Law (Poochigian)
Repeals recently enacted legislation that imposes significant new costs and burdens on California employers including: AB 749; AB 2816; AB 2509; SB 975; AB 60.

WORKERS' COMP:
At last review, there were 50+ pieces of pending legislation proposing workers' comp. reform including SB 414, SB 714, SB 893, SB 899, AB 1481, AB 1482, and AB 1483. Help us support this much needed fix to our broken state system.

Current Openings:

VP, Business Development
Senior selling role at LA based broker of independent consultants. BS or greater in business and min. 10 yrs. experience, preferably in service industry, w/ provable sales of $1M annually in business to business environment and senior level contacts in LA and OC required.

Office Manager
Prestigious Laguna Niguel photography studio. Responsibilities include reception, sales, and production. Must have excellent interpersonal skills and basic computer experience. Interest in photography a plus. FT. Base + Commission ($30k-$40k) + benefits.

Spa Manager
Progressive, growing medical spa seeks manager to oversee locations in LA, Orange County, and Palm Springs. Must have industry experience and strong supervisory skills. Retail savvy and business development skills a plus. Must be flexible, able to travel.

Receptionist/Accounting Clerk
Fast growing Irvine based real estate consulting firm. Excellent phone skills and light accounting experience a must. Word/Excel required. FT. $15/hour + benefits.

Summer Interns
LA based film society seeks summer interns for administrative tasks assisting non-profit organization and related publishing company. Industry interest a plus. $10/hr, FT or PT.

Are you interested in any of these positions? Do you know someone else who might be a good fit?

Current Candidates:

Mechanical Engineer
Recent graduate of UC Berkeley seeks PT position in Mechanical Engineering/Design in Ann Arbor, MI during MS degree program participation.

Financial Analyst
3 yrs. Wall Street experience in investment banking/sell-side research. Seeking position in financial services or corporate finance in LA. BA in Economics from Wellesley College.

Senior Manager
25 yrs. project, general, & executive management experience in start-ups to large organizations. Expertise in strategic implementation, change management, engineering, & operations. Seeking PT, consulting, or interim positions in Medical Devise or Life Sciences industries in S. Cal.

Are you interested in any of these candidates and would like to see a resume? Do you know of a company who might be interested?

Please give us a call at (949) 425-1262 or e-mail us at recruiting@VantaggioHR.com


IN THE COURTS...

CA State Disability Law tougher than Federal ADA
In February of this year, the CA Supreme Court ruled that the Fair Employment and Housing Act's (FEHA) protections for disabled individuals is considerably greater than the protections provided by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the FEHA protects an employee whose condition "limits" a major life activity, as opposed to the broader ADA definition requiring that the condition "substantially limit" a major life activity. Employers need to pay special attention to potential or actual disability claims. Now would be a good time to review your company's written policy on this subject.

Good News for Company Officers and Directors
A CA court of appeals recently ruled that officers and directors of a corporate employer cannot be held individually liable for paying unpaid wages and overtime payments to misclassified exempt employees. The company, however, remains liable. Since the unpaid wages, penalties, and interest can be quite substantial, employers are cautioned to do a very careful analysis of their employees' exempt status to determine if state and federal requirements for exempt status are met. Give us a call and ask for our handout summarizing these rules.

EMPLOYER ACTION ITEMS...

W-4's: Make sure employees are given the opportunity to complete new W-4's to update their withholding allowances. NOTE: If an employee claims more than 10 allowances, or if he/she claims exempt status and earnings will be more than $200, you MUST send the IRS a copy of the W-4. When made aware of this, many employees change their minds about how they want to complete the form.

TAX RATES FOR 2003:
State Unemployment Insurance (SUI): Depends upon employer, ranges from 0.9 to 5.4%, paid by employer on first $7000 of wages.
Employer Training Tax (ETT): 0.1%, paid by employer on first $7000 of wages.
Federal Unemployment Insurance (FUTA): 0.8%, paid by employer on first $7000 of wages.
Social Security (FICA): 6.2% on first $87,000 in wages, paid both by employer and employee.
Social Security (Medicare): 1.45% on all wages without limit, paid both by employer and employee.

MINIMUM WAGE: did not increase in 2003 and remains at $6.75 per hour.

I-9 FORMS: "The I-9 form (Employment Verification), although a single page, has proven to be one of the more difficult to properly complete. Improper completion by the employer or the employee can lead to employer sanctions for non compliance. With the advent of Homeland Security and the restructuring of the former INS, employers should look to heightened levels of I-9 audits by the Federal government. It is therefore good advice to perform a self audit to ensure I-9s are in good shape," Mitchell Wexler, partner in the immigration law firm of Hirson Wexler Perl & Stark. For more information about I-9 compliance, give us a call. For legal immigration issues, contact Mitch at 949-251-8844 or email him mwexler@hirson.com.

NEW BONUS AND STOCK OPTION WITHHOLDING LAW: AD 2065 became effective on 1/1/03 and regulates withholding when employers pay bonuses or non-qualified stock options (NSOs) to employees.

If the bonus or stock option is given to the employee at the same time the employee’s regular wages are paid, the employer is required to treat the sum of the payments as regular wages and withhold Personal Income Tax (PIT) based on the regular payroll period using the PIT withholding schedules.

If the bonus or stock option is not given to the employee at the same time the employee’s regular wages are paid, the employer may use either of the following two options:

1. Compute the amount of PIT to withhold from the bonus or stock option based on the combined regular wages and the bonus or stock option by adding the bonus or stock option to the current or most recent regular (gross) wage payment. Compute the PIT withholding on the total using the PIT withholding schedules. From that amount, subtract the PIT withheld from the regular wages. The difference is the PIT amount that should be withheld from the bonus or stock option; OR

2. Withhold a flat 9.3 percent (.093) on the bonus or stock option without allowing for any withholding allowances claimed by the employee.

SAFETY UPDATE

Federal law requires that the OSHA Log 300 be filled out during the course of each year to record all workplace injuries, illnesses, and accidents. The log must then be posted, even if there are no events to report, from February 1 through April 30 of the following year.
If you do not have a copy of the Log 300 form or are not sure if your company must complete it, contact us immediately at info@VantaggioHR.com

Lauraine Bifulco to Speak on CEO Panel at Local Sales Conference:
Lauraine will be participating on a panel discussion entitled "How to Meet and Sell to C-Level Decision Makers" at the upcoming event co-hosted by the Valeo Group and the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. Thursday, May 29, 2003 at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. Click here for more information and to register: Selling Smart In Tough Times: Creating A Mindset For Sales Success Conference. Register before May 16 to take advantage of the registration specials.

FUND MAMMOGRAMS NOW!
The Breast Cancer Site has corporate sponsors and advertisers who use the daily number of visits to the site to determine how many free mammograms they will sponsor for underprivileged women in exchange for advertising. Click on the link to the right which will take you to the Breast Cancer Site. There, click on "Donate A Mammogram." You can visit the site and have your click counted once a day. Consider setting up a shortcut for yourself on your desktop so that you can click on it each day - it only takes a minute and you are not obligated to purchase or enroll in anything. Pass this information along to your friends and colleagues.