Swisher Law, P.C.

Federal Reports for Most Companies Due by December 31, 2024

On September 30, 2023, California Senate Bill 553 was signed into law. As a result, the new Labor Code section 6401.9 will be in effect and enforceable on July 1, 2024. Employers that fall within the scope of this law must establish, implement, and maintain an effective written Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP).  In accordance with Labor Code section 6401.9, employers must include the following required elements and effective procedures in their establishment's WVPP or include them as a separate section in their Injury and Illness Prevention Program dedicated to Workplace Violence Prevention:

• Names/Titles of persons responsible for implementing the written WVPP.
• Procedures to obtain the active involvement of employees and authorized employee representatives in developing and implementing the WVPP.
• Methods the employer will use to coordinate implementation of the plan with other employers.
• Procedures to ensure that all employees (supervisory and nonsupervisory), comply with the WVPP.
• Procedures to communicate and provide training to employees on workplace violence.
• Procedures to identify, evaluate and correct workplace violence hazards.
• Procedures on how to respond to actual or potential workplace violence, and how to accept and respond to reports of workplace violence, including procedures to prohibit retaliation against employees for reporting workplace violence.
• Procedures for post-incident response and investigation.
• Procedures to review WVPP for effectiveness and revise the plan as needed.
• Procedures or other information required by the division and standards board as being necessary and appropriate to protect the health and safety of employees.

A template WVPP published by the Department of Industrial Relations is found here: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dir.ca.gov%2Fdosh%2Fdosh_publications%2FModel-WPV-Plan-General-Industry.docx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK. 

You can also read more about the law and its requirements on the Department’s website: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Workplace-Violence/General-Industry.html.

Most California Employers Must Have a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan By July 1, 2024

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) went into effect on January 1, 2024.  While the goal of the CTA is to combat illegal financial activity, the Act has perhaps an unintended consequence of creating a disparate impact on small businesses.  Under the CTA, small businesses across the United States need to file beneficial ownership information reports (BOIR), also known as corporate transparency reports.  These reports ask businesses about their ownership – not just the identity of the shareholders or members, but who the individuals are that own or control the entities that own shares or membership interests in other businesses.   For example, if an individual owns a limited liability company and the individual’s limited liability company owns 30% of all outstanding shares in a corporation, the corporation would be required to report on the LLC and its individual owner. 

A helpful (although lengthy) document explaining the CTA, as published by the U.S. Department of Treasury, is found here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/BOI-Informational-Brochure-April-2024.pdf. 

Importantly, the CTA has two BOI reporting deadlines: 

1.For businesses that were created before January 1, 2024, these businesses have until January 1, 2025, to file their BOI report.  

2.For businesses that were created on or after January 1, 2024, these businesses must report within ninety (90) days of their creation – i.e. 90 days after the date on the file stamped Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization or other entity formation document filed with the Secretary of State.  Therefore, if you created/are creating a business in California this year, a helpful practice will be to submit your BOI report at the same time that you file your first Statement of Information with the Secretary of State (which also has a 90-day deadline).

Please note that after January 1, 2025, the ninety (90) day deadline shrinks to a thirty (30) day deadline for reporting compliance.

Not all businesses are required to submit a BOIR.  The CTA contains 23 exemptions for businesses in various industries and of differing sizes.  The vast majority of the categories (e.g., banking, securities reporting issuer, tax-exempt entities, etc.) are businesses that already have to file corporate transparency reports to at least one state or federal agency.   As such, these exemptions will likely not apply to most small businesses.   However, an entity that does qualify for any of these exemptions is not required to submit a BOI report to FinCEN. For more information on BOI reporting, contact Swisher Law today.