There is never a dull moment in the legal profession. Attorneys and others in the field know that regulators are continually changing laws and statutes. Legal precedents from court cases influence the direction of some of these laws and can also create a ripple effect for future litigation. Attorneys have to deal with a very fluid environment, as local, state, and Federal codes are updated, changed, or deleted. Failure to stay on top of these developments can create real problems when it comes time to head to the courtroom, and savvy lawyers know that a thorough understanding of the applicable laws and their underpinnings are a recipe for success.
In the specialized field of business law, there are some additional considerations for lawyers engaged in this area. International laws, such as overseas shipping regulations and import/export codes, may also come into play. Add in the complex regulations and guidelines for tax law and you’ve got a recipe for confusion if you don’t learn about and understand how these laws are changing. Employment laws, wage laws, and trade laws also weigh heavily on the broadly-arranged business law category.
Several new laws are taking effect in 2016, and as with any change in the legal language, these will impact current and future cases for the foreseeable future. For example, California recently adopted a new law that addresses sex discrimination in the workplace as it relates to pay rates. Female employees will now be able to file pay discrimination claims based on wages paid for substantially similar work done by other employees. It is now up to the employer, not the employee, to prove that higher pay for similar work is not a function of gender, but is related to other factors in these discrimination claims. Attorneys who specialize in employment and related law foresee an onslaught of new cases; women in the United States have historically tended to be paid lower wages for the same or similar workloads as their male counterparts. It will be interesting to follow the developments as cases make it to the courtroom.
Another employment-related law taking effect in 2016 is in the state of Missouri, where jobless benefits and the time duration they’re paid will be directly related to the state’s own unemployment rate. When the unemployment rate is lower and people are working, those who are claiming jobless benefits will have a shorter time to collect. The state’s maximum length of benefits has also been shortened from 20 weeks to 13. This will have a dramatic impact on those people who are struggling to find work in this down economy, and the long-term ramifications of the new law are not yet fully understood.
To complement commuter benefits as established by the Federal government, several municipalities that are plagued with high traffic-congestion rates have implemented new laws this year. Cities include Washington, D.C. and New York City. Employers in these cities with at least 20 employees will be required to offer commuter benefits to those employees, including mass transit subsidies (rail or bus passes) that are tax-free. Some of these new regulations are modeled on ordinances already in effect in San Francisco, California. On the federal level, some of these commuter-benefit laws have demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing urban traffic congestion, encouraging more employees to leave their cars behind and rely on public transportation options to get to the workplace.
Minimum wage increases have been a hot topic over the last year, and as might be expected, several new wages laws are going into effect in 2016. Some of these laws were passed several years ago but were designed to be phased in over a period of time. Other of these laws are related to cost of living increases on the state and local levels, and will increase automatically as those costs are expected to rise. In New York City, workers at fast food establishments will see a minimum wage increase incrementally to $15.00 over the next two years, and the remainder of the state will see that maximum reached in 2021. So far, the Federal government hasn’t addressed an across-the-board minimum wage standard, so cities and states across the country have begun to take action on their own. Cities like New Orleans and Seattle have also followed suit, bumping up the minimum wage effective January 1. Among the other states increasing minimum wages this year are California, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Several states have implemented automatic increases, including Colorado, Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey.
As to be expected, income tax laws are changing on both the state and Federal levels in 2016. State income taxes will see a slight fall in Oklahoma and in Massachusetts, two states that have experienced dwindling revenues. Sales taxes on certain luxury items will also come down, particularly in New Jersey and in North Carolina. On the Federal side of things, several interesting developments in the tax code promise to create headaches for individuals and attorneys alike. For example, the penalties for people without healthcare insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act is jumping up dramatically to a maximum of $2085. People have until March to secure insurance coverage to avoid any penalties. On a more positive note, personal tax exemptions are set to increase slightly for 2016, although high-income earners will no longer be able to claim personal exemptions. Earned income credits are also increasing this year, depending on the number of children claimed as dependents on tax forms. Some other tax breaks that were expected to be lost have become permanent fixtures in the IRS Tax Code this year. Of particular note are two breaks. First, teachers are able to deduct up to $250 for unreimbursed purchases of classroom supplies. Second, the IRA charitable transfer clause was made permanent. This clause gives people aged 70 or over to transfer money from an IRA to a non-profit charity without paying a tax penalty. The maximum transfer allowed is $100,000.
As you can see, it behooves an attorney to stay abreast of changes in the laws that govern business activities. By learning and understanding these laws, lawyers can better serve their clients with the latest legal advice and the best defense in the courtroom.
