Spring is coming, what better time than to make sure that your business complies with corporate formalities. Don’t let a creditor pierce the corporate veil. Contact ISLLP to put together your 2012 annual board and shareholder minutes.
New Labor Laws for 2013
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these legislators from the swift completion of their appointed lawmaking tasks.
Whoops! That’s too much like the US Postal Service’s slogan as inscribed on a New York Post Office. But perhaps there is something to it: both organizations seem to spend a lot of our money with the primary purpose of retaining their jobs, rather than improving the service level provided to ordinary citizens and the small businesses they own and manage.
Last time we recall checking, the number of new laws adopted by the California Legislature each year generally approaches and sometimes exceeds 1,000. So let’s take a look at just those related to Labor Law.
Here’s the list of areas in which there are significant new laws effective in 2013.
- Religion and Reasonable Accommodation
- Sex Discrimination and Breastfeeding
- Social Media and Personal Passwords
- Inspection of Personnel Records
- Itemized Wage Statements for Temporary Service Employers
- Penalties for Wage Statement Violations
- Commission Agreements
- Fixed Salaries and Overtime
- Wage Garnishment
- Human Trafficking Posting
- Workers’ Compensation Reform
- Accessibility Reform
- FEHC Eliminated, Duties Transferred to the DFEH
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Unemployment Insurance: Overpayment and Penalties
- Prevailing Wage
- Farm Labor Contractors
- Warehouse Workers
Many of them will have no significant effect on your business. But it’s an educated guess to say that every business with more than 4-5 employees is likely to be affected by at least some of these laws.
What continually amazes me is how legislators expect and effectively burden the average small business owner to learn all this “new stuff” each year, to avoid exposing himself to the peril of suffering penalties which can be rather draconian, even for small errors.
We have available a 3-page memo published by the California Chamber of Commerce that provides a sentence or two of description about the above topics. Copies available on request … let us know if you’d like a copy emailed to you. Please use the Contact Us inquiry form on this web site to submit your request. Those descriptions may help you learn if you need to do more digging to see which laws might affect you.
Legal News & Tips
This section of our web site, which is changed every month or two to provide new information, provides advisory information for owners, managers and professional staff of small to medium size businesses. Legal News & Tips deals with real-world issues and problems you’re likely to encounter, including issues related to general business transactions, employment law, financial and accounting matters, business practices, distribution and marketing.
Legal News & Tips focuses primarily on the California business environment, and laws affecting the operation of California businesses. The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.
