My colleagues and I have written about many of the new employment laws that take effect in California in 2013.  But so you don’t have to dig around, here’s a handy-dandy list of the most significant ones (with links to our earlier entries).

No Social Media Passwords (AB1844): Employers may not ask employees or applicants for user names or passwords. They probably couldn’t before this law passed anyway.

Breastfeeding Protected (AB2386): The legislature has again expanded the definition of “sex” under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Last year they explained that the term included gender identity and gender expression. This year, they’ve added breastfeeding and related medical problems to the definition.

California Religious Freedom Act (AB1964): This statute clarified that the law against religious discrimination protect religious dress practices (e.g., head scarves) and religious grooming practice (e.g., facial hair).

Liability for Contractor’s Wage & Hour violations (AB1856): Adds warehouse contractors to the list of firms (garment workers, security guards, janitors) for whose wage and hour practices the prime company can be liable.

Access to Personnel Files (AB2674): Revises the law to allow former employees to obtain personnel files.

Injury from Itemized Wage Statements (AB 1744): Amends Labor Code §226 to define “injury” for purposes of liability where employee alleges defective wage statements.

Commission Agreements in Writing (AB 1396 and AB 2675): Having written commission agreements has always been a good idea. Now it’s the law. AB 1396 imposed the requirement and AB 2675 clarified some areas of confusion.

And as I noted last year at this time, we’re still waiting to learn which employment laws are being taken off the books to make room for these new ones.