GSBE Business Update 06/14/2019
CalSavers – Retirement Savings Program (formerly Secure Choice)
In 2016, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1234 requiring the state’s Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board to begin development of a workplace retirement savings program, known as CalSavers, for private sector workers whose employers do not offer a retirement plan. The program is required to have minimal administrative requirements for employers and state law protects employers from any liability or fiduciary responsibilities. State law also requires the program to be exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The program launched a pilot initiative with a small group of participating employers in November 2018. Beginning in July 2019, all eligible employers can register for the program.
Employers with five or more employees will be required to either provide a retirement plan for their workers or register for CalSavers and facilitate employees’ contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts. Deadlines for compliance vary according to the size of the business.
| CalSavers compliance deadlines, by business size | |
| Size of Business | Deadline |
| Over 100 employees | June 30, 2020 |
| Over 50 employees | June 30, 2021 |
| 5 or more employees | June 30, 2022 |
For more information, visit CalSavers on the California State Treasurer’s website https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/scib/
AB 1613, as introduced, O’Donnell. Public works: prevailing wages.
(1) Existing law defines “public works,” for the purposes of regulating public works contracts, as, among other things, construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for, in whole or in part, out of public funds. Existing law further requires that, except as specified, not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages be paid to workers employed on public works and imposes misdemeanor penalties for a willful violation of this requirement.
This bill would expand the definition of “public works,” for the purposes of provisions relating to the prevailing rate of per diem wages, to also include any construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under private contract on a project for a charter school, as defined, when the project is paid for, in whole or in part, with the proceeds of conduit revenue bonds, as defined, that were issued on or after January 1, 2020.
Because the willful violation of prevailing wage requirements when engaged in these public works projects would result in the imposition of misdemeanor penalties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.