Listed here are new California labor legal guidelines that will have an effect on your office

Good morning. Right here’s what it’s good to know to begin your Monday.

New 12 months, new labor legal guidelines for Californians

After basking in 2023’s “sizzling labor summer season,” which noticed a excessive variety of progressive payments handed and signed into legislation, labor unions and advocates famous a cooldown in 2024 as some formidable efforts fizzled earlier than the end line.

Even so, a variety of labor-friendly payments made it by means of final 12 months, aimed toward higher defending staff from anti-union intimidation, synthetic intelligence and extra. They took impact Jan. 1.

“As an alternative of breaking new floor, most of the adjustments symbolize expansions of present protections, similar to household go away and enforcement of office anti-discrimination legal guidelines,” my colleague Suhauna Hussain wrote over the weekend.

Right here’s a fast information to a few of the key legal guidelines now on California’s books.

Senate Invoice 399 prohibits employers from calling necessary conferences designed for administration “to speak the employer’s opinion about non secular or political issues,” together with views on unions.

The brand new legislation is a test on what labor teams name “captive viewers conferences,” which they are saying are supposed to intimidate staff and chill efforts to kind a union.

Beneath the brand new legislation, staff who refuse to attend such a gathering known as by their employer should proceed to be paid.

Senate Invoice 988, dubbed the Freelance Employee Safety Act, goals to make sure unbiased contractors are paid in a well timed method. It requires an individual or enterprise that hires freelancers to supply written contracts for providers if they’re paying the employee greater than $250.

Beneath the phrases, a freelancer should be paid “on or earlier than the date specified by the contract or, if the contract doesn’t specify a date, no later than 30 days after” their work is completed, in accordance with the invoice.

“The legislation provides freelancers better skill to implement their rights if guidelines should not complied with,” Suhauna defined. “For instance, a freelancer may sue and be awarded $1,000 if the employer refused to supply a written contract, in addition to damages as much as twice the quantity that remained unpaid when fee was due.”

Senate Invoice 951 handed in 2022, however a lift in paid family-leave advantages from that legislation kicked on this 12 months.

Beneath the legislation, staff making lower than $63,000 a 12 months at the moment are eligible to obtain 90% of their pay when taking go away. That’s up from 70% of pay that that tier of staff was eligible for beforehand.

Staff incomes greater than $63,000 yearly will obtain 70% of their pay below the legislation.

“The profit enhance … will make it considerably extra reasonably priced for staff to take day without work for being pregnant, childbirth, restoration from sickness or harm, or to take care of severely unwell relations,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s workplace wrote in a information launch final week. “It should additionally assist households bond with new kids or assist family members throughout navy deployment overseas.”

Meeting Invoice 2602 makes it unlawful for corporations to make use of synthetic intelligence to duplicate the voice or likeness of actors and different performers with out permission. The legislation requires that staff be represented by their union (SAG-AFTRA) or authorized counsel for offers that contain their AI-created likenesses.

The rise of fast and life like AI-generated imagery sparked a motion in inventive fields to guard the human labor it takes to put in writing, draw, act and extra. Many staff and labor advocates worry studios will do no matter they’ll to chop prices, together with changing staff with generative AI software program.

Final month, the Writers Guild of America demanded that studios take authorized motion to cease tech corporations from utilizing writers’ copyrighted work to coach AI fashions. WGA accused Netflix, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal and different main studios of permitting AI corporations “to plunder total libraries with out permission or compensation.”

You possibly can be taught extra about these and different now-in-effect labor-related legal guidelines in Suhauna’s newest story.

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To your downtime

Going out

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A query for you: What’s one thing you’re wanting ahead to in 2025?

Occurring a visit this 12 months? Choosing up a brand new pastime? Hoping to check out new recipes within the kitchen?

E mail us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response may seem within the e-newsletter this week.

And at last … your photograph of the day

At this time’s nice photograph is from Instances workers photographer Robert Gauthier.

Ariana DeBose poses on the crimson carpet on the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, held Sunday night time on the Beverly Hilton Resort in Los Angeles. You possibly can discover extra crimson carpet trend right here.

Have an awesome day, from the Important California workforce

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Amy Hubbard, deputy editor, Quick Break

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