Effective January 1, 2018, in order to take advantage of the overtime pay exemptions, California employers must pay computer software professionals a minimum of $43.58 per hour or $90,790.07 annually and licensed physicians and surgeons a minimum of $79.39 per hour. 

California became the first state to explicitly affirm the rights of immigrant workers through the passage of a provision that imposes an affirmative obligation on California employers to provide employees notification that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has determined they are lacking work authorization. 

California continues its expansion of equal pay protections with the enactment of Assembly Bill 168, which prohibits employers from seeking, considering, and relying on an applicant’s salary history when determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer. 

Governor Jerry Brown signed the New Parent Leave Act into law, which requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement.

The California Labor Commissioner has issued a model notice of Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking, setting forth the rights and duties of employers and employees under the state’s domestic violence law.