It’s been a few months now since the Supreme Court has overturned the “Chevron Doctrine.” If you are a business owner, this may have interesting consequences for your business. Ambiguous federal statutes will now be met with higher judicial scrutiny. The courts now have the power to change the interpretation of any statute they deem ambiguous. Most interesting of all, the federal agencies will be forced to defend their interpretations of federal regulations.

The California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2025, essentially seeks to give employees the freedom to make up their own minds on religion and politics without feeling pressured or intimidated by their employer. This new law makes it illegal for employers to take any adverse action against any employee if the employee chooses not to attend an employer’s meeting discussing politics or religion.

A new bill (Assembly Bill 977) has been signed into law by Governor Newsom and recently took effect on January 1, 2025. This new law increases the punishments for any person who assaults or batters a doctor, nurse, or other hospital worker in the emergency department from a maximum of 6 months to a maximum of one year imprisonment.

The city of Newport Beach in Orange County, California has made it mandatory for brick-and-mortar businesses to accept payments in cash when the customer is physically present at the business. This means that the businesses can no longer decide to go “cashless” and can no longer require payment from online services such as ApplePay, Venmo, Zelle, etc. In addition, these businesses are not allowed to charge a fee or place any other condition on its acceptance of cash. This city-wide requirement begins on March 31, 2025.

Beginning on January 1, 2025, California began paying significantly higher paid family leave benefits and higher disability benefits to California families. Over 18 million workers pay into the California State Disability Insurance program, meaning the workers automatically pay into these insurance plans through their payroll contributions.

Many U.S. employers use the H-1B Visa to obtain workers, and many employers have staffed nearly entire companies with such workers. It is a non-immigrant visa that allows employers to hire foreign workers in what is referred to as a “specialty occupation” for up to 3 years, with a maximum of 6 years. The Biden Administration took steps to “modernize” the H-1B program and the new regulation took effect on January 17, 2025.

California has increased its minimum wage to $16.50 per hour this year, and nearly all of the cities with even higher minimum wages are in Northern California except for San Diego and West Hollywood. If you work or own a business anywhere in California, you need to be aware that minimum wage has increased across the entire state starting in January of 2025.

Los Angeles county is trying something new to enable cooks and bakers to operate their own little restaurant by allowing them to prepare food in their own home. Starting on November 1, 2024, Los Angeles will begin a new program called the Micro-enterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO). This program will be available in all of Los Angeles County except for Pasadena, Long Beach, and Vernon because these cities have their own health departments.

The new California law, which was recently signed by Governor Newsom on September 22, 2024, explicitly states that the California Small Business Procurement and Contract Act is a state law that provides assistance and services for all persons regardless of their immigration status. California has now affirmatively provided eligibility to aliens. Yes, now even small businesses and micro businesses owned by illegal aliens can receive these benefits.