AB 525 Small Business Investment Protection Act

SB 525 is a bill that protects Franchisees from unfair business practices of Franchisers. It has passed the Senate and will go before the Assembly Business and Professions Committee. Currently there are 83000 franchised establishments in California employing 925700 workers.  Last years bill SB 610 was vetoed by the Governor because of questions the Governor had about the “substantial and Material breach”  in last years bill.If you want a sample letter please let me know.This bill bars franchisers from termination of a franchise- putting them out of business- without a reason. The standard proposed has been tested in numerous states:” failure to substantially comply” with the Franchise agreement. Gives franchisees rights to renew their franchise-to keep their business- if they comply with the franchiser's standards. Protects franchisees ability to monetize their equity and investment in their business before it is terminated or not renewed. Creates a more stable,sustainable ,and balanced relationship, which will allow workers more room to negotiate for improved working conditions. Keep in mind that franchisers will still be allowed to terminate or not renew franchises who violate important rules . Franchisees will merely be protected from losing their businesses for minor violations of thousands of pages of detailed requirements. Small Business California strongly supports this bill and will be looking to get support from the small business community around the state. What are your thoughts? Will you send a letter supporting? If you are a franchisee will you help us . Tell us your stories. Most of the people receiving this email are not impacted by this but we need to stick together to help our fellow small businesses owners.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188 

Workers' Compensation/Sick Leave/SB Cal Legislation

Most of you do not have an experience modification on your workers compensation policy but for those of you that do you know the impact of a good or bad modification. The Workers Compensation Bureau is looking to change the calculation formula. Currently claims up to $7000 are charged dollar for dollar in the calculation. The bureau is looking to change this. On the lower end if you’re paying $10000 the charge may be reduced from $7000 to $6000. On the higher end if you are paying $100000 it could go from  up from $7000 to around  $23000. I don’t know the time line on this but the Bureau will be doing a webinar and Small Business California will be on it.

Thank you to all that were on the webinar yesterday on the sick leave law that is going into effect July 1. Hopefully you all  know there are no exemptions for small employers. If you would like a copy of the presentation let me know and I will send to you.

As I said last week all bills had to get out of their house of origin by the end of the week. If you would like a list of bills Small Business California is tracking let me know.

Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188 

Legislation SB 406/AB67CASp

All bills in the Senate and Assembly must pass their house of origin this week. A couple of bills you might be interested in:

SB 406 Based on comments many of you provided me Small Business California opposed this bill. Under the  current Family Medical Leave  Act  businesses with 50 or more employees are required to provide unpaid job protected leave  for 12 weeks to employees and specified family members. SB 406 reduces the threshold to 25 employees. It also expands the family members to include grandparents grandchildren and siblings. In the expansion it now becomes possible for an employee to take 24 weeks. The bill passed the Senate 23 to 16.

AB 67 was an interesting bill requiring employers to pay double time  on Thanksgiving. It was amended so that the requirement  applied to businesses with 25 or more employees. It failed but not sure of vote.

I am on the California Commission on Disabled Access. Laws have been passed giving businesses some protection for ADA lawsuits if they  engage the services of a Certified Access Specialist CASp. How many of you have ever heard of CASp.If you are concerned about ADA lawsuits I suggest you find out about CASp. Go to www.dgs.ca.gov/dsa/Programs/programCert/casp.aspx


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188 

SB 406

Please find arguments below  for and against SB 406.  The Family Medical Leave Act provides 12 weeks for employers with 50 or more employees. This bill will reduce that to 25 employees. It should be noted that the author originally had 5 employees and has amended to 25. This is on the Senate Floor so I need to know as soon as possible what you think of bill. 


ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to proponents, the restrictions on family caregiving under CFRA fail to account for  the diversity of California households and the importance of caregiving by extended family members.

Proponents bring attention to various study findings including: a study of Alzheimer's patients which found that 40% of caregivers were not covered under the narrow definition of family in CFRA, one study that found that nearly 20% of primary caregivers for chronically disabled individuals are neither the spouse nor the child of the person receiving care, and another finding that one in twelve caregivers provides care to a parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandparent-in-law.
Proponents also note that California's PFL insurance program provides an important partial wage replacement when an employee takes time off work to care for a seriously ill family member. However, according to proponents because PFL does not provide any job protection some workers who pay into this fund never access its benefits because they would risk losing their job if they took any leave.

Proponents point to a 2011 study which found that among those who were aware of PFL and needed leave but did not apply for benefits, 38% said they did not apply because they feared they would be fired or face other negative consequences at work. Proponents argue that to make sure the state's PFL program ensures family members are cared for employees need to be able to take leave without risking their jobs. Proponents contend that SB 406 will provide the critical job protection for workers who want to take paid family leave by amending CFRA to expand the definition of family to match PFL and to lower the employer threshold so that more workers are covered.

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Opponents argue that SB 406 will overwhelm small businesses by mandating businesses with 25 or more employees to provide a 12-week protected leave of absence. Opponents contend that this will put a greater burden on both small and large businesses while creating an even further disconnect from the FMLA. Opponents argue that this creates a burden for the employer especially if he or she has multiple employees already out of work on protected leaves and because the employer must hire and train a temporary employee to cover the employees' duties, pay an existing employee a higher wage or overtime to take on the duties, or suffer decreased productivity until the existing employee out on leave is ready to return to work.
Additionally, opponents argue that expanding the family members for whom an employee may take a 12-week protected leave of absence to care for to include a grandparent, a grandchild, and siblings will negatively impact California employers. Opponents argue that as these family members in SB 406 are not covered under the FMLA, this bill will potentially provide a California employer with an obligation to provide up to 24 weeks of protected leave.

Specifically,opponents argue that under SB 406 an employee could utilize his or her 12 weeks of CFRA to care for the serious medical condition of a grandparent as well as still be entitled to another 12-week protected leave of absence under FMLA for his or her own medical condition or the medical condition of his or her spouse, child or parent.


Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
2311 Taraval Street
San Francisco, CA  94116
shauge@cal-insure.com
415-680-2188