California is on a roll with new employment-related laws effective January 1, 2018. The latest relates to salary history disclosures by job applicants. There is essentially a complete prohibition on an employer, either orally or in writing, personally or through an agent, seeking salary history information, including compensation and benefits, about an applicant for employment. This applies to all employers (private/public) and the only exception is publically available salary history information. Background screeners and employers take note and check out section 432.3 of California’s Labor Code.
Another new law effective at the start of the year relates to immigration worksite enforcement and what employers cannot do and must do if they are the subject of a visit by immigration agents such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the subject of an ICE investigation into their employment eligibility verification practices related to their Forms I-9. Read more in this blog posting of mine.