Business Law Journal

If you are a smart phone user, you may have wondered why so many new privacy policies have recently rolled out.  The reason?  The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) became effective May 25, 2018, and applies to all organizations that handle European Union citizens’ data.  Businesses throughout the world, including in the US, are figuring out how to best navigate through what some have called one of the most important corporate compliance events in years, with several controversial provisions.  GDPR will substantially increase statutory obligations regarding the processing of personal data placed on data controllers and data processors both inside and outside the European Union.  A controller is the entity that determines the purposes, conditions and means of the processing of personal data, while the processor is an entity which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

Many employers outsource some or all of their payroll and related tax duties to third party payroll service providers.  These related tax duties may include withholding, reporting, and paying over certain employment (i.e. FICA, Medicare, SDI) and income taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and California Employment Development Department (EDD).

As technology advances, people are living much longer lives.  However, for many people, their golden years have resulted in nothing but heartbreak as they have been the victims of elder abuse.

Employers who are faced with sexual harassment or sexual abuse claims by a current or former employee now have another problem to consider – is the settlement payment and related attorney’s fees incurred in settling the claim deductible?  Unfortunately, the answer to that question may now be no.

Recently, both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) have issued news releases encouraging taxpayers to plan ahead and to withhold the correct amount of taxes from their paychecks in 2018 to account for recent changes in federal tax law. 

Over the last twenty years the internet has changed the world.  Through the assistance of screen-reading software or other similar devices, visually-impaired individuals can access the internet to, among other things, conduct business, make hotel reservations, or purchase products.  However, lawsuits against businesses with websites that do not fully accommodate visually-impaired individuals have exploded in the last few years.  Businesses in all industries have faced litigation of this kind, from financial institutions to hotels and restaurants.  Even world-renown universities have not been immune to such lawsuits.

On February 23, 2018, California’s Fourth Appellate District held an employment agreement between a staffing firm and a truck driver was governed by California law and not by the Federal Arbitration Act. 

Eleven states have employment laws protecting medical cannabis patients against employment discrimination. California is not currently one of them.  In 2008, the California Supreme Court held that employers could terminate employees for off-work cannabis use even if such use is for medicinal purposes and lawful under California’s medical marijuana laws. A lot has changed since the California Supreme Court decided this issue a decade ago.  California voters have since passed law legalizing recreational use of cannabis, and many California employers are wondering what rights they have to not hire and/or to terminate employees who test positive for cannabis. The California Legislature may soon clarify employer and employee rights in California vis a vis off-work cannabis consumption through Assembly Bill (“AB”) 2069, which was introduced on February 7, 2018.

Worker classification is an ongoing issue for most employers. Unfortunately, misclassification of workers can result in substantial liability for employers, with such liability arising in many different ways.  

Individuals impersonating IRS officials are out there, using their best efforts to intimidate people into paying a fake tax bill.  Scams take many shapes and forms, such as phone calls, letters, and emails.  Some scammers may even threaten to arrest or deport their would-be victim if they don’t pay.  The IRS continually updates its website (www.irs.gov) with information on the most current scams and how to report them.  Here is an overview of how and when the IRS contacts taxpayers.