The Workplace: a Podcast by CalChamber

California’s complex employment laws prompted 22,000 calls to the CalChamber Labor Law Helpline in 2018. On the latest episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber President Allan Zaremberg and Erika Frank, CalChamber Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, discuss the most frequently asked questions—a good indicator of the compliance issues that are the most challenging for California businesses.

Even though California is enjoying its ninth straight year of economic growth and the state has a solid budget surplus and a brimming Rainy Day Fund, California legislators can’t seem to resist the temptation to raise taxes. This week on The Workplace, CalChamber President Allan Zaremberg and Loren Kaye, president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, highlight just a handful of the more than $15 billion in new taxes policymakers are considering. On the list of possible items lawmakers would like to tax is everything from medicine to tires and businesses.

The latest episode of CalChamber’s The Workplace podcast focuses on men and the #MeToo movement. As more publicity is being given to instances of sexual harassment around the country, men have responded to news stories and other developments in a variety of ways. Some will no longer meet with female colleagues or socialize with women coworkers to protect themselves from the possibility of being wrongfully accused of harassment. Erika Frank, CalChamber Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, is joined by Jennifer Shaw, President of the Shaw Law Group, to shed light on these issues and provide perspective on the #MeToo movement.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is a sweeping privacy law that applies to businesses of all sizes across almost every industry. In this episode of The Workplace, CalChamber President Allan Zaremberg is joined by CalChamber Executive Vice President Jennifer Barrera and Policy Advocate Sarah Boot to talk about the challenges of implementing the CCPA. The trio digs deep into the potential costs to both business and consumers posed by the CCPA as they discuss the many unworkable provisions of the law. They conclude the conversation with a discussion of needed legislative fixes before the CCPA goes into effect on January 1, 2020.