From an increase in the minimum wage to safety rules to protect bicyclists to free phone calls for prison inmates, a host of new laws took effect in California on New Year’s Day 2023.
As of Jan. 1, minimum wage earners saw an increase in their hourly rate to $15.50 per hour. The law applies to all businesses, regardless of the number of workers, according to the Department of Industrial Relations. The increase is the last annual installment implemented under SB 3, which was passed in 2016, to gradually raise wages from $10 per hour in 2017 to $15.50 in 2023.
Employers, under SB 1162, are also required to make salary ranges on job positions available to applicants and employees. It also sets new pay data reporting requirements based on gender and race.
The new year also rang in greater criminal protections. SB 1228 prohibits law enforcement agencies from using the DNA collected from a sexual assault victim from being used in the investigation of an unrelated crime. AB 2799 limits the use of creative expression, such as rap lyrics, as evidence in criminal cases. SB 836 prohibits disclosure of a person’s immigration status in open court in a criminal case by any party unless approved by a judge. SB 1008 provides free phone calls to people detained in California prisons and jails.
However, a number of laws related to retail theft went into effect, including AB 2294, which gives law enforcement the ability to keep those in custody who are accused of organized retail theft, and AB 1700, which sets up a section on the state Attorney General’s office website to report stolen items.
According to the National Retail Federation, retail “shrink” which includes problems like theft, gift card fraud, and inventory mismanagement accounted for nearly $95 billion worth of losses last year, about $5 billion more than the year before.
People coming into stores to steal amounts to close to 40 percent of retail shrink. About 30 percent of retail theft is by employees, the NRF reported.
A number of traffic safety-related laws also took effect Jan. 1, addressing topics ranging from street racing to catalytic converter theft.
SB 1472 expands the criteria for “gross negligence” to include drivers involved in sideshow activity, exhibition of speed, or speeding over 100 mph resulting in a fatality, and AB 2000 includes parking lots and off-street parking facilities as locations where it is a crime to engage in speed contests, exhibitions of speed or sideshow activities.
AB 2147 prohibits police officers from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations such as crossing the road “jaywalking” outside of a crosswalk. AB 1909 provides increased protections for bicyclists by requiring vehicles passing or overtaking them in the same direction to move over to an adjacent traffic lane if one is available, or slow down and only pass the bicyclist when it is safe to do so. ■