The start of 2020 means the start of many changes to state and federal labor laws. To help Californian employers better understand the new laws and avoid violating any laws, KCAL Insurance Agency hosted their first “Seminar for Business Owners” of 2020 on the afternoon of February 6 at KCAL’s headquarters in Hacienda Heights. Hundreds of employers, senior executives and upper managers were in attendance. Also in attendance to answer any questions business owners may have had were the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, CalSavers, and many other federal and California state officials as well as industry experts including well-known attorneys.
With the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, many employers began to worry, unsure of how to handle the situation. To calm the public and lessen their worries, KCAL invited Dawn Terashita, Associate Director at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, to update the community on the latest news of the coronavirus and share with the public the preventative measures that could be taken to prevent the virus from spreading and becoming worse. This included frequent and thorough hand washing and maintaining proper hygiene habits both at home and at work.
In response to the latest labor law updates, attorneys William Lai and Roland Au of Chang & Coté LLP discussed the latest 2020 labor laws and trends that employers should pay special attention to. Topics included minimum wage, workplace discrimination and harassment, consumer privacy, pregnant employee rights, and more. They also discussed AB5 and the classification of 1099 employees and provided information on how to strengthen a company’s HR system.
Towards the end of the seminar, an interactive Q&A session on labor laws was also held and attorneys were also available for consultations.
In regards to business management, Anita Pang, Institutional Relationship Manager spoke on behalf of CalSavers on this new government sponsored retirement savings program for employers. State law requires California employers to sponsor a retirement plan or participate in CalSavers.
Griffin Heung, Commercial Insurance Department Manager at KCAL, introduced Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) to employers and provided examples on how having EPLI is beneficial to businesses.
As a friendly reminder to all employers, CEO of KCAL, Kenny Chang reminded business owners that the labor laws have become stricter in the past few years and employers should be extra careful when dealing with employees, and to make sure to strengthen their personnel management to prevent any potential employment lawsuits.
Furthermore, U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Pellson Lau, Regional Export Finance Manager, was present to provide information to employers on SBA export assistance programs and how employers can obtain resources from various government departments.
Angela Chang, Chief Strategy Officer at KCAL, stated that KCAL has been hosting the annual “Seminar for Business Owners” for more than a decade to provide employers with the latest and trending business related topics, hoping to help more employers understand the importance of these labor laws as well as to help employers comply with the latest laws.
KCAL will be hosting three more “Seminar for Business Owners” in this seminar series in Ontario, San Gabriel and Irvine. Seats are limited and registration is free so register now to save your spot! Call 626-333-1111 for more details!