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 

Sacramento AB 722 and SB3/Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces

Yesterday was a busy day in Sacramento. According to the SF Chronicle today over 650 bills came up before  the Senate and Appropriation Committees on Thursday.  The reason this is so important is that all bills have to get to the Senate or Assembly floor by today. To our great disappointment  AB 722 our  equity crowd funding bill was sent to suspense effectively stopping the bill . We are not sure why this happened as the Department of Business Oversight  said there was no cost to the bill  and the bill was supported by 27 business associations and labor. We are not going to give up and will look for ways to move this forward.

Passing yesterday in Appropriation was Mark Leno increase in the minimum wage. The bill would increase the minimum wage  to $11 per hour in 2016 and $13 per hour  in 2017. In 2019 the wage will be indexed to increase annually  by the Consumer Price Index.

I don’t know how many businesses have Federal  contracts but please see below request from Yvonne Lee the Regional Advocate for Region 9. If you are impacted by this I would appreciate your comments

Yvonne Y. Lee | Regional  Advocate for AmSam, AZ, CA, CNMI, GU, HI, NV |
| SBA Office of Advocacy | 455 Market Street, #600, San Francisco, CA 94105 | p 415/744-8493| f 202/481-4167 |
| yvonne.lee@sba.gov |  website |  listserv |  blog | Facebook |  twitter |



Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces
On May 28, 2015 the FAR Council published a proposed rule, Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,  to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the Executive Order “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces.”  The Executive Order (E.O.) requires that for contracts over $500,000 prospective and existing contractors disclose whether under certain labor laws there has been any administrative merits determination, civil judgment, or arbitral award or decision rendered against them during the preceding three-year period. The E.O. directs agencies to include clauses in their contracts that require similar disclosures by certain subcontractors so their prime contractors can also consider labor violations when determining whether there have been any similar violations by prospective or existing subcontractors. The E.O. further requires that processes be established to assist contractors and subcontractors to come into compliance with labor laws. To achieve paycheck transparency for workers, the E.O. requires contractors and subcontractors to provide individuals with information each pay period regarding how they are paid and to provide notice to those workers whom they treat as independent contractors. The E.O. also addresses arbitration of employee claims.

The definition of “labor laws” is derived from the E.O and includes the following statutes and E.O.s:

• The Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. chapter 8
• The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970
• The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act
• The National Labor Relations Act
• 40 U.S.C. chapter 31, subchapter IV, formerly known as the Davis-Bacon Act
• 41 U.S.C. chapter 67, formerly known as the Service Contract Act
• E.O. 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity)
• Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
• The Family and Medical Leave Act
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• E.O. 13658 of February 12, 2014 (Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors).

Comments on this rule are due on July 27, 2015.
•          Comment to the Proposed Rule on Regulations.gov
•          Link to the Fact Sheet on FAR Case 2014-025
•          Link to DOL Guidance Document
•          Link to DOL Q&A
•          Advocacy Contact: Major Clark(link sends e-mail) or call 205-205-6533

This proposed rule, and a proposed guidance document being issued simultaneously by the Department of Labor (DOL), are intended to implement the E.O.'s requirements.   The comment period is for 60 days; comments are due by July 27, 2015.  Listed below is a Department of Labor landing page for Q&As and a fact sheet on FAR Case 2014-025, Far Pay and Safe Workplaces.


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

Is You Business Ready to Comply with California's New Sick Pay Law

Please register for “Is your business ready to comply with California's new sick pay law?” on Jun 8, 2015 3:00 PM PDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8630208968802846977

Small Business California is pleased to partner with Payality to provide a free webinar with detailed information on the new California Sick Pay law that becomes effective July 1, 2015. Almost all employers, even those with just one employee, will be affected by this new law.

Please register for this 30 minute webinar to learn more.

About Payality
Payality provides payroll, HR compliance and benefit solutions that help business owners minimize risk and have more time to focus on growing and managing their business. . See how Payality performs and you’ll never look back. Visit http://www.payality.com for more information.


After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Brought to you by GoToWebinar®
Webinars Made Easy®

Chet Reilly
President
Phone (559) 634-1001
Fax (888) 677-7160
chet@payality.com

1600 Draper Street
Kingsburg, CA 93631
http://www.payality.com

Below is an article posted by the NBSA regarding changes to rules involving overtime pay that we wanted to pass along.  We are being told that it would basically work like this: Federal Minimum wage $7.25 x 4= $29.  California minimum wage(effective July 1 2015) $10.00 x 4=$40.00.This change could be particularly problematic for smaller employers where all employees—including the owner—regularly perform a range of duties.

You should contact your Human Resources or payroll vendor for more information.

 

Overtime Rules to be Unveiled

May 19, 2015 | Filed under: Labor & Employment,Latest News | Posted by: Molly Brogan

After a wait of well over a year, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) may soon be ready to propose new overtime rules. In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama announced that he would ask the Department of Labor to review overtime standards. Now under review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), those new rules are expected to propose further restricting the ability of employers to exempt “white collar” workers from overtime rules.

The DOL proposal is expected in June—it could come any time—and it could more than double the salary level required for employees to be considered exempt. The proposal is also expected to change the “primary duty” test, thereby making it more difficult to qualify an employee as exempt when they perform both exempt and non-exempt duties. This change could be particularly problematic for smaller employers where all employees—including the owner—regularly perform a range of duties.

When the proposed rule is finally issued, there will be a period for public comment before a final rule is announced. NSBA expects to be actively engaged in this process to create an ultimate rule that will be workable for small businesses and their employees.

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

White Paper on Net New Job Creation

Please see the link below. This information is really important for small business owners to understand. Board member Terry Bibbens has  looked at the Office of Advocacy data and put together a White paper showing that all the net new jobs from 1989 to 2012  were created by businesses with less than 20 employees.

I think this is really important for policy makers to  understand in developing economic development policy. Thank you Terry for putting this together

The Very Small Businesses Are Vital To Job Creation In The United States 5-18-2015 SB CAL

Small Business California sponsored bill AB  1245 passed the  Assembly on a 76 to 1 vote yesterday. This bill would require all businesses to file EDD quarterly filings by 2018. We believe small businesses will benefit from this once they are shown how to do this.  We believe this is more efficient  and will reduce errors. Only 35% of the businesses in the state file online.  The cost saving for EDD is estimated to be about $ 8 million

To help small businesses that are not online we are employing  the services of the Small Business Development Centers around the state. We are hopeful that they will receive $500000 from EDD which will be matched by the SBA. It should be noted that there is a hardship provision for those businesses that do not have the technology to do this.

The bill will now go over to the Senate.

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

Prepaid Legal Coverage/ Small Business California Bills 2014-2015 Session

How many of you have heard of or looked into prepaid legal coverage?  If there was a company that could provide you the ability to contact an attorney and get advice any time you wanted for a fixed cost per month, would you be interested if the cost was affordable?  By affordable I mean $39 a month for a business with less than 10 employees, $89 per month for businesses with 10 to 50 employees, and $149 a month for businesses between 50 and 99 employees.
 

Many small businesses are being solicited about this.  Do you have this?  Have you been solicited?  What questions would you have?
 
Please see below the bills Small Business California is sponsoring, supporting, or opposing for this legislative session. Do you agree with SB Cal's positions?
 
http://www.smallbusinesscalifornia.org/#!services/cee5.

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

Insurance Commissioner approves 10.2 percent workers compensation decrease

Please see below recommendation of 10.2 workers compensation reduction for July 1. Keep in mind this is not binding on insurance companies.

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones wasted little time in approving a 10.2% cut in the state's advisory pure premium rates as requested by the Bureau effective July 1, 2015. The decision on the mid-year rate change came quickly and will give the industry more time than usual to review the findings and decide whether or not to use the approved rates.

The Bureau is a non-governmental private organization financially supported by insurance carriers.

Besides the cut, the most interesting fact is that the proposed pure premium rates were made without the use of the State Compensation Insurance Fund's loss adjustment expenses. State Fund's LAE is way out of line with industry norms.

Had State Fund's data been included, the rate cut – if there would have been a rate cut - would have been significantly smaller. The Bureau will not quantify that number.

The department's proposed decision reiterates its earlier finding that State Fund's loss adjustment expenses (LAE) “include a significant component of excess expense," the decision reports. State Fund's experience is being excluded entirely rather than being tempered at just 50% as had been the case in years' past.

The Commissioner's decision sticks with the Bureau’s recommendation of $2.46 per $100 of payroll. It was 3 cents higher than the best estimated presented by the public member's actuary. The benchmark rate is a weighted average and is not indicative of what any individual employer will pay, which is influenced primarily by their industry classification and loss history.

Compline’s rating system and other tools will have the new rates in and running within a couple of days.

The Insurance Commission’s decision concluded “the California workers' compensation insurance industry's profitability indicates that the pricing environment continues to benefit from substantial investment income relating to substantially higher premiums in prior years and associated reserves, resulting in an average market price level that is below what may be sustainable without this underlying level of support.”

But it is State Fund, which has the highest investment income relative to premium and depends upon its investment income to sustain its high expenses.

“However,” the written decision continues, “the average charged rate in 2014 of $2.93 appears much stronger relative to the WCIRB's July 1, 2015 indicated pure premium rate of $2.46. If lower pure premium rates are maintained in future filings, it appears that charged rates may be approaching long-term sustainable levels.”

Jones' decision adopted in full the proposed decision and order drafted by CDI hearing officer Patricia Hein, a former State Fund attorney.


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

AB 722, AB 525, AB 1347

Small Business California has been busy at the Capitol this week.

AB 722 Perea.  Yesterday, our crowd funding bill came up before the Assembly Judiciary committee.  It passed 7 to 0.  Lori and I testified in support.  We are hoping to get the remaining 3 Assembly members to support and will know in the next couple days.

We did have to take some amendments including a prohibition of direct solicitation and a 72 hour cooling off period after someone has purchased securities.

We don’t see these amendments causing any problems, and we were surprised that there was a  concern that people would be solicited door to door or in nursing homes.
Jeremy Smith from the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California [Union] testified in support.  Jose Mejia from the Laborers Council [Union] could not make the hearing, but we have their support also.
It now goes to Judiciary.

AB 525 Holden/Atkins.  This is the bill that levels the playing field for Franchisees.  It passed 11 to 0 with two abstentions in Assembly Business and Professions.  We are working with the SEIU [Union] on this bill.  It now will go to Assembly Floor.

AB 1347 Chiu.  This is the state prompt payment bill.  It will be coming up today, and we expect passage.  Lori will be testifying at Assembly Accountability and Review Committee. We are working in partnership with the Laborers Council.  I believe this will go to Appropriation.

These three bills are a good example of Small Business California working with labor.

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

WCIRB Policyholder Ombudsman/AB 722

Robin McGuire is our contact at the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (see below).  She is a great resource for your workers compensation questions.  I will be meeting with Robin on April 29.  Do you have any questions?

Please note that she is available to answer your questions on workers compensation classifications as well as other concerns you may have.

Good afternoon Mr. Hauge,

I’m Robin McGuire, the Policyholder Ombudsman at the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. As the Ombudsman, my job is to assist policyholders in obtaining and evaluating information regarding workers’ compensation insurance. 

I explain California insurance regulations and provide information on the policyholder’s right to appeal a decision or action by the insurance company or the WCIRB. I also act as a facilitator between the policyholder and the insurance company or between the policyholder and the WCIRB and I can help policyholders navigate and understand the dispute resolution process.

I would like to set up a meeting with you to introduce myself and have a conversation regarding:

• Issues of concern to your members
• Ways in which the Policyholder Ombudsman can address those concerns and be of service to employers and your organization
• Products and services available for employers
• Any ideas, suggestions, and/or feedback that you want to share 

Kind regards,
Robin M. McGuire
Policyholder Ombudsman
WCIRB California
1221 Broadway, Suite 900
Oakland, CA 94612
Office: 415.778.7159
Fax: 415.371.5288
Website: www.wcirb.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wcirb | Twitter: @wcirb


On Tuesday Mark Hiraide, Lori Kammerer and I testified on AB 722.  This is Small Business California’s crowd funding bill.  It passed 9 to 2.  Next week on the 28^th  we will be back in Sacramento testifying before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

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

Our very own San Francisco Business Portal is up for a Webby Award!

I have a favor to ask of all of you.  Please see below email from Regina who is the ED of the SF Small Business Commission.  The SF business portal has been nominated for the Webby award.  San Francisco needs your help in obtaining this award.  Please cast your vote for our SF portal.
Also, don't forget to check out the SF portal HERE.  It is terrific.  Small Business California is working with the state in developing a similar portal for California businesses.
Thank you Regina, Jane Gong, and all the people who have made this possible.

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

_____________________________________________________________________
Dear Business Community
In case you have not heard, we have received exciting news that our very own san francisco business portal  has been nominated for a webby award for “best city & urban innovation".   The businessportal is up against the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Transportation for London (TfL) Website, Make Something Edmonton and Human Cities websites.

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.  The New York Times called it “the Internet’s highest honor” and it is often considered the Oscars for the Internet.  We need your help! The portal is trailing on the people’s voice nomination and need to get more votes (10 days left to vote).  Please vote and please spread the word and encourage others to vote.   

1. click here and sign up to vote
2. look for an email from the webby awards and verify your account (check your spam folders!)
3. login and search for nominee San Francisco Business Portal and cast your vote

It would be terrific to receive recognition of the vision and hard work that has gone into the creation and development of the Portal.

Kindly,
Regina Dick-Endrizzi | Executive Director | Office of Small Business
Jane Gong | Creator of the San Francisco Business Portal