By Laurie Nooren, SPHR, PHRca, SHRM-CP
Holiday Greetings, all you HR nerds. If you’re anything like this HR nerd, you make compulsive lists, if nothing but to cross things out and give you a sense of accomplishment. As the year end approaches, what should be on your top 5 list of things to do for 2023? Here are my suggestions:
- Ensure all non-exempt employees are earning the new minimum wage of at least $15.50 per hour, effective January 1, 2023. This does not mean the first pay day in 2023, but on January 1, 2023, which may be in the middle of your pay period. You may want to raise wages to $15.50 per hour the first day of that pay period (even if it falls in December) so you don’t have to pro-rate.
Don’t forget exempt employees. In order to meet the salary test, they must earn at least twice the state minimum wage in base earnings (not including bonuses, commissions, etc.). So ensure all exempt employees are earning at least $64,480 per year.
Oh, and also don’t forget local minimum wages ordinances, which are higher than the state minimum wage. If you have employees who work even a few hours per week in most bay area cities or in southern California, ensure there is not a local minimum wage order in place for that city.
- Ensure your employee handbook is up to date with the new laws for 2023, including a “designated person” relationship for use of both PSL and CFRA, mandatory unpaid bereavement leave, and a new protected class (reproductive health decisions), just to name a few. (Retained clients, please see the Handbook Update email we sent on December 8, 2022.) We always suggest if you update your handbook, ensure all employees sign an acknowledgement receipt for placement in their personnel file.
- Audit your I-9s to ensure they have been completed (or corrected) with the standards required by the USCIS: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/complete-and-correct-form-i-9. Destroy any I-9 forms for terminated employees who have been separated from your Company for at least one year, or three years past their original date of hire, whichever is longer. You can’t be fined for incorrect I-9s you are no longer required to keep if you destroy them!
- Ensure the 2023 required employment posters are posted where your employees can easily read them, and/or sent to your remote workers. Don’t know where to get them? You can order them from us: https://www.silvershr.com/posters/. And don’t forget those local ordinances, which also may require postings…..
- Lastly, stay up to date on other new laws for 2023 which may affect your workplace or industry. Pay transparency and pay data reporting (SB 1162), COVID-19 laws continuing into next year (sigh!), and the CCPA/CPRA privacy laws are just a few of these fun laws employers need to pay attention to. (Retained clients, please see the Employment Law Update email we sent on December 6, 2022.)
We hope you and yours have a fun, safe, happy and relaxing holiday season. We wish you all the best in 2023!