Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Transgender Rights - Required Poster SB 396

Don’t Forget This New Posting Requirement



A new California law (SB 396) requires all California employers to post a “Transgender Rights in the Workplace” poster starting January 1, 2018.


The new transgender rights poster must be displayed along with other mandatory workplace notices in a conspicuous and available location. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has developed the poster - CLICK HERE to download the poster.

The poster contains regulations that went into effect on July 1, 2017.

Topics covered by the poster include:
  • Definitions of terms such as transgender, gender identity, gender expression and gender transition.
  • A discussion on the right of employees to use restrooms, locker rooms and other similar facilities corresponding to their gender identity.
  • The importance of allowing an employee to dress in accordance with the employee’s gender identity and expression.

SB 396 also requires the mandatory sexual harassment and bully prevention training (AB 1825 & AB 2053) to include a section regarding gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation. This training requirement applies to employers with 50 or more employees and requires training of all supervisors.

Lauren Sims is the article author and the Director of Human Resources Consulting for eqHR Solutions.
Whenever you require professional Human Resources or Payroll guidance to navigate the ever-changing landscape of California and Federal Employment Laws & Regulations, contact us for a no obligation consultation. eqHR Solutions offers professional, tactical and strategic, human resources support, ADP payroll product implementation/training and payroll processing services for businesses throughout Southern California.


Refresher on California’s Fair Pay Law

New Fair Pay requirements went in to effect in 2017 and state that an employer must pay the same for “substantially similar” work, when viewed as composite of skill, effort and responsibility.
The new regulations eliminated the prior standard of comparing work at the “same establishment.”  Now employees can compare their pay to employees who do not perform same work or who are not employed in same position or location.

What is substantially similar work? According to the California Senate example:
  • Female secretary’s primary duties – answer telephone, make copies, transmit correspondence
  • Male assistant’s primary duties – answer telephone, transmit documents, perform light filing tasks
  • “Plaintiff’s burden would be to show that the man and woman should be paid the same wages because, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility, they were performing substantially similar jobs.”

The key is to look beyond job titles, the similarities can be subtle, some other examples:
  • Hotel housekeepers (mostly female) v. hotel custodians/janitors (mostly male)
  • Female cafe workers preparing meals on behalf factory’s shop floor workers vs. male cooks who make lunches for senior managers
  • Call center customer service reps vs. call center sales vs. call center support

What are the exceptions for when pay can be different?
  • Seniority system
  • Merit system
  • System that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production
  • Other bona fide (nondiscriminatory) factor consistent with business necessity as defined as an overriding legitimate business purpose such that the factor relied upon effectively fulfills the business purpose it is supposed to serve
  • Local job markets can be a factor for differences


Who has the burden of Proof?
Employee’s must show different pay under new “substantially similar” work standard. The employer must demonstrate that the differences are legitimate and nondiscriminatory.

Beginning in 2018:
  • Employers may not rely on the salary history of an applicant to make an offer or determine salary.
  • Employers may not seek salary history of applicant.
  • Employers must, upon reasonable request, provide the pay scale for a position to an applicant.
  • Applicants may voluntarily and without prompting disclose salary history information.
  • Employers are not prohibited from considering voluntarily disclosed salary history information in determining salary.


Best practices for employers to protect themselves:
  • Update hiring processes
  • Update employment applications
  • Train interviewers to not ask for prior salary information
  • Have pay scales available upon request
  • Have a form available for applicants to sign to document a voluntary and unsolicited disclosure of salary information.


All employers should analyze the content of their jobs to identify substantially similar work and to identify disparities in compensation.

It is recommended that any analysis done be conducted with employment counsel so that the attorney-client privilege is maintained. A self-audit conducted without counsel will be subject to discovery in any litigation, and failure to correct problems will be dangerous.

Lauren Sims is the article author and the Director of Human Resources Consulting for eqHR Solutions.

Whenever you require professional Human Resources or Payroll guidance to navigate the ever-changing landscape of California and Federal Employment Laws & Regulations, contact us for a no obligation consultation. eqHR Solutions offers professional, tactical and strategic, human resources support, ADP payroll product implementation/training and payroll processing services for businesses throughout Southern California.



Risks of a Contingent - Temporary Workforce

Contingent Workforce Arrangements

Continue to become more popular with employers.



Contingent Workforce includes:

  1. Temporary staffing
  2. Long-term staffing
  3. Employee leasing
  4. Third-party payroll providers
  5. Managed services.
As the contingent workforce continues to grow, employers need to be aware of the risks associated with using non-traditional working arrangements.
Because temporary workers don't have long-term relationships with employers, they tend to be less loyal, potentially putting trade secrets and intellectual property at risk. Temporary workers are given access and privileges on their employers' IT systems and some are not informed of policies and procedures regarding data information and access during their onboarding.

Employers should provide security guidelines and processes to contingent workers during their onboarding. The same procedures for managing security access for regular staff should be applied to contingent workers. Contingent workers should also sign confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements to protect proprietary information.

Another risk of employing contingent workers for the long term is that courts may consider them eligible to for employer’s benefits. Employers should implement a tenure policy where after a certain period of time, a temporary employee must leave the position. In addition to considering a tenure policy, employers should ensure that their corporate benefits plan documents clearly define who is a nonemployee and specifically eliminate these workers from eligibility for benefits.

Employers should also consider unemployment compensation issues when hiring temporary workers. Often temporary workers will identify the employer as the business, not the temporary agency who provided the assignment. The employer will then deny the claim which can lead to additional inquiries as to the worker’s status. In some instances, both the temporary agency and the employer may be found to be liable as a joint employer.
Employers should weigh the benefits of having a flexible contingent workforce with some of the risks mentioned above. By putting a few safeguards in place, employers can help protect themselves from any potential pitfalls.
Lauren Sims is the article author and the Director of Human Resources Consulting for eqHR Solutions.
Whenever you require professional Human Resources or Payroll guidance to navigate the ever-changing landscape of California and Federal Employment Laws & Regulations, contact us for a no-obligation consultation. eqHR Solutions offers professional, tactical and strategic, human resources support, ADP payroll product implementation/training and payroll processing services for businesses throughout Southern California.

Monday, December 11, 2017

eqHR Solutions - Team Building

- Just Having Fun -
 Learning how to make Beef Wellington

Ann - Alex - Bernadette - Bob
June - Lauren - Patty - Will

South Bay Cooking School

December 6, 2017