2018 has been an incredibly eventful year! This year, there were a number of developments in a number of sectors, including important changes in employment law, data security and privacy regulations, and tax rules and regulation. In this newsletter, we’ll “look back” on these developments and highlight for you some of the key changes from 2018 that may affect your business.

Employment

1. Independent contractors: California presumes that all workers are employees unless a business is able to demonstrate that they meet every element of the ABC Test:
2. The worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work, both in the contract for and in the practical reality of the arrangement; and
   The worker performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and
3. The worker is engaged in a customarily independent trade, occupation, or business of the same nature involved in the work performed.

• Salary & Conviction history: Businesses may not ask job applicants about their salary history. They are also prohibited from asking job applicants questions regarding their criminal history until they have made a conditional offer of employment.
• Hiring Unpaid Interns: Due to changes of Federal law, businesses should be cautious about hiring unpaid interns
• New Parent leave: Under the New Parent Leave Act, businesses with 20 or more employees must provide employees who have worked for the business for a year or more with 12-weeks of unpaid leave to bond with a new child.

Data & Privacy

• GDPR: Businesses should be aware that, even if they only target American customers, they may be subject to the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (or the “GDPR”). If your business has a website that you use to collect emails or other personal information from potential customers, you will likely need to take certain precautions, such as limiting the reach of your website and/or creating a privacy policy that governs the information you collect.
• Data breaches: As the number of businesses being targeted by hackers continues to increase, it’s important for business owners to identify areas of weakness and put together a plan of action in the event that they are targeted. These response plans should identify the breach, prevent further damage, and notify the relevant government agency and any effected consumers of the leak.

Taxes

• Tax Rates: Both individual and corporate tax rates have been reduced.
• Qualified Business Income Deduction: A new deduction for pass-through profits permits deduction of qualified business income up to 20% of income earned through a partnership, S-corporation, or LLC.
• Carried Interest: Certain gains resulting from partnership interests will now be taxed as long-term capital gains; gains on partnership interests were taxed as income and subject to the taxpayer’s individual rate. To qualify, the interest must be held for more than three years.
• Net Operating Loss: The deduction for net operating loss is now limited to 80% of taxable income; any unused losses may now be carried forward indefinitely, where they had previously expired after 20 years.

These changes will impact every business differently, if you have any questions regarding your business reach out to business attorney DeAnn Chase and her team at Chase Law Group, P.C. They can help you work through these rules and regulations. Reach out today by calling (310) 545-7700.