New Year, New Laws: What to Know for 2023

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

With the start of the new year, change is about with several new California laws that went into effect January 1—from salary transparency, an increase in minimum wage and new holidays, the Palisadian-Post’s list highlights noteworthy laws that could bring some day-to-day changes for Palisadians.

Minimum Wage Increase 

Due to the enactment of Senate Bill 3, California’s minimum wage increased from a rate of $15 per hour to $15.50 for all employers.

In 2016, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that increased the minimum wage each year until it reached $15 per hour. After $15 was reached, annual increases were set to take place on the first day of the year.

However, a number of California cities and counties have enacted minimums above the state’s—including the city of Los Angeles, which raised its floor to $16.04 in July 2022. On July 1, 2023, the minimum wage in Los Angeles will increase to $16.90 per hour.

Pay Scale Disclosure

Written by Senator Monique Limón, Senate Bill 1162 requires employers with 15 or more employees to disclose the pay scale—“the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position,” according to the bill—for a position in any job posting.

“The bill would require an employer to maintain records of a job title and wage rate history for each employee for a specified timeframe,” according to the bill. “This bill would require the pay data reports to include the median and mean hourly rate for each combination of race, ethnicity and sex within each job category.”

Washington, Colorado, Connecticut and New York City also enacted similar transparency laws.

New Holidays 

California will have three new state holidays in 2023.

Under Assembly Bill 2596, Lunar New Year is to be recognized as a state holiday.

State employees can receive “eight hours of holiday credit” for Lunar New Year, Juneteenth (Assembly Bill 1655)—observed on June 19—and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Assembly Bill 1801)—observed on April 24.

Elimination of the ‘Pink Tax’ 

Assembly Bill 1287 prohibits businesses to base pricing on gender, a practice known as the “pink tax.”

The bill states a “person, firm, partnership, company, corporation or business shall not charge a different price for any two goods that are substantially similar if those goods are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whom the goods are marketed and intended.”

Grace for Jaywalking

Pedestrians are granted some grace under Assembly Bill 2147, which allows pedestrians to legally cross the street outside of designated intersections—“unless a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of collision with a moving vehicle or other device moving exclusively by human power,” according to the bill.

Bereavement Leave 

California employees are now eligible for up to five days of bereavement leave upon the death of a family member, according to Assembly Bill 1949. Family member is defined as a spouse or child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law.

The bill would require that leave be completed within three months of the date of death, but do not need to be consecutive.

Previous law granted employees up to three days of bereavement leave, with up to two additional days if the death was out of state.