San Diego Human Resources Consulting (SDHRC) is 15 years old! Fifteen years is a significant milestone and we couldn’t have done it without you, our amazing clients. At SDHRC, we embody our 3 “C” values: Clients, Colleagues, and Community. The traditional 15-year wedding anniversary gift is crystal. Similar to crystal, we want our clients to feel special, shiny, and that we are always transparent with them. To help celebrate this 15-year anniversary, we want to offer our clients a crystal discount for our “C” services. Mention the crystal discount and receive 15% off any of our compensation or coaching HR services during the month of August and September. Thank you for being with us throughout our 15 years of doing business.
PTO Programs Helping Employers in a Tight Labor Market
With the US unemployment rate at 3.7%, the tight labor market presents the challenge of attracting and retaining the right talent. Organizations are looking at what employees value the most and how they can accommodate. It is estimated that millennials will comprise of approximately half of the US workforce by 2020, and organizations are re-evaluating their current programs to ensure they align with what Millennials find most important. With Millenials requesting collaboration, feedback, flexibility, and more time off, it’s no wonder organizations are looking at their PTO programs.
Organizations need to ensure PTO is calculated as part of the employee’s overall total compensation package and be sure the employee is aware of this perk. As found in WorldatWork and PTO Exchange’s recent 2019 PTO Programs and Practices Survey, 68% of companies market their PTO bank to attract talent.
Since organizations are using more generous PTO programs to attract employees does this mean they are using unlimited PTO banks? No, not necessarily. WorldatWork’s PTO survey found about 2% of organizations offer unlimited PTO programs with many being startups, as well as some big-name companies like GrubHub, General Electric, Glassdoor, and Netflix.
Next time you are interviewing your next candidate, remember the majority of candidates care about the organization’s PTO offerings.
How we can help! Contact SDHRC to design and administer an employee engagement survey to evaluate and measure your employee’s satisfaction with your PTO program, compensation, and mentorship programs. Or if you have a hard-to-fill role, SDHRC can do the recruiting for you.
Legal Updates
CA Paid Family Leave Time Increases
A month ago, Governor Newson signed Senate Bill (SB) 83, which extends the maximum duration of paid family leave (PFL) benefits from California’s State Disability Insurance (SDI) program from six to eight weeks. This change will take effect on July 1, 2020.
Mandatory CA Retirement Savings Program
Private-sector employers in California with at least five employees soon will need to have a retirement savings mechanism in place for its employees. If they currently don’t provide a program, they must either begin offering one via the private market or provide their employees access to CalSavers.
What is CalSavers?
The CalSavers program strives to give Californians access to a workplace retirement savings program. CalSavers offers employees a voluntary, low cost, portable retirement savings vehicle with professionally managed investments and oversight from a public, transparent board of directors, chaired by the State Treasurer. The program is required to have minimal administrative requirements for employers and state law protects employers from any liability or fiduciary responsibilities. State law also requires the program to be exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
When can employers enroll in CalSavers?
The CalSavers Retirement Savings Program first launched November 2018 with a pilot program and employers are now eligible to enroll beginning July 1, 2019.
If we don’t have a retirement plan in place, when do we need to enroll in CalSavers?
This depends on the size of the business. Business size-specific deadlines can be found below:
| Size of business | Deadline |
| Over 100 employees | June 30, 2020 |
| Over 50 employees | June 30, 2021 |
| Five or more employees | June 30, 2022 |
CA Minimum Wage Increasing in Many Cities
As of January 1, 2019, the California minimum wage increased to $12 per hour for large employers (≥26 employees) and $11 per hour for small employers (≤25 employees or fewer). Effective July 1, 2019, some counties and cities are increasing the minimum wage further. Check the table below to find the new minimum wage for your California employees:
| Jurisdiction | Pre-July 1 Minimum Wage | July 1 Minimum Wage |
| Alameda | $11.00 / $12.00 (small / large employer rate) | $13.50 (all employers) |
| Berkeley | $15.00 | $15.59 |
| Emeryville (56 or more employees) | $15.69 | $16.30 |
| Emeryville (55 or fewer employees) | $15.00 | $16.30 |
| Freemont (26 or more employees) | $12.00 | $13.50 |
| Long Beach (hotel workers) | $14.64 | $14.97 |
| City of Los Angeles (26 or more employees) | $13.25 | $14.25 |
| City of Los Angeles (25 or fewer employees) | $12.00 | $13.25 |
| City of Los Angeles (hotel workers) | $16.10 | $16.63 |
| County of Los Angeles Unincorporated (26 or more employees) | $13.25 | $14.25 |
| County of Los Angeles Unincorporated (25 or fewer employees) | $12.00 | $13.25 |
| Malibu (26 or more employees) | $13.25 | $14.25 |
| Malibu (25 or fewer employees) | $12.00 | $13.25 |
| Milpitas | $13.50 | $15.00 |
| Oakland (hotel workers without benefits) | $13.80 | $20.00 |
| Oakland (hotel workers wit benefits) | $13.80 | $15.00 |
| Pasadena (26 or more employees) | $13.25 | $14.25 |
| Pasadena (25 or fewer employees) | $12.00 | $13.25 |
| San Diego | $12.00[1] | |
| San Francisco | $15.00 | $15.59 |
| San Francisco (government-supported employee) | $13.27 | $13.79 |
| San Leandro | $13.00 | $14.00 |
| Santa Monica (26 or more employees) | $13.25 | $14.25 |
| Santa Monica (25 or fewer employees) | $12.00 | $13.25 |
| Santa Monica (hotel workers) | $16.10 | $16.63 |
1 Effective January 1, 2019, for large and small employers. San Diego does not have a scheduled minimum wage increase for July 1, 2019.
How we can help! If you need an evaluation of your employees’ compensation to ensure minimum wage requirements are being met and salaries are competitive compared to market, let SDHRC know. AND you will receive the 15% crystal discount.
Walmart pays $6M to Chino Warehouse Workers
Walmart required their non-exempt warehouse workers in Chico, California to go through a security checkpoint whenever leaving the warehouse. The metal detector security checkpoint was established to protect assets at an e-commerce fulfillment center. Walmart violated California law by:
-Off-the-Clock: Not compensating workers for the time they spent walking to the checkpoint, waiting in line or passing through security.
-Meal Period Interruption: It infringed on the workers’ 30-minute meal periods because the workers were required to clock out before leaving the building at the checkpoint.
-Meal Period Discouragement: It discouraged workers from leaving the building during meal periods.
What should our company be doing about meal breaks?
The number of hours a California non-exempt employee works determines the number of 30-minute meal breaks the employer must provide.
Hours on the Clock Meal Breaks:
| 0-5 hrs | 0 |
| 5:01 – 10 hrs | 1 |
| 10:01 – 15 hrs | 2 |
| 15:01 – 20 hrs | 3 |
The employee must be allowed to take their meal break off work premises and spend the break as they wish since it’s off the clock. Rest breaks and meal breaks are supposed to be separate and should not be combined. Certain industries are exempt, including:
-Construction
-Healthcare
-Group home
-Motion picture
-Manufacturing
-Baking
Employers should encourage their employees to take their meal breaks away from the workplace.
Evaluate where time clocks are placed, and determine whether a remote timekeeping system is beneficial, especially where employees are required to undergo security checks or other activities before leaving the workplace.
How we can help! If you are uncertain if you are in compliance with meal and rest break requirements, SDHRC can help.
Our Employee Spotlight: Traci Hagan
We want you to get to know the crystals and gems of our organization; our employees. We would like to take a moment to introduce you to Traci Hagan.
Traci is our internal resource for answering HR questions as well as our watchdog, who proactively researches new HR laws and regulations, so we can keep you compliant. Traci’s dedication to her company and clients is remarkable. Traci loves taking on new projects and recently rearranged her schedule to accommodate a client by driving to Los Angeles with very limited notice. She brings such a pleasant, cheerful attitude, demeanor, and professionalism to the table; she truly cares and it shows. Whether Traci is helping a company with their performance review process or establishing an efficient onboarding process, she makes her clients feel at ease with her expert knowledge.
Traci is also a great storyteller. Our readers find her interesting and she recently received over 3000 views in a blog! She is a teacher at heart; she teaches evening college classes and this also carries over into the mentoring of her clients. Traci is also involved in a number of amazing charities and community support such as the opening of the new Hillcrest Knox Public Library, refereeing at the Hands On-SD tennis tournament, and the Union of Pan Asian Communities. Traci just volunteered at UPAC’s 45th Annual Dinner, their biggest fundraising event of the year, setting up banquet table decorations and silent auction items as well as managing the volunteers while checking in and organizing over 300 attendees. We are grateful to have Traci on our team, and we hope you will get to meet her!
