The legal profession is constantly changing. Law firms are finding new ways to serve clients, focusing on different areas of the law and coming up with strategies that haven’t been part of traditional legal practice in the past. One of these trends is known as “New Law.” This concept has taken hold in recent years and is one that all lawyers should be familiar with, even if it’s not an area of practice for which they’ll be able to develop expertise.
New laws are enacted at the state and federal levels each year. They can be the result of a legislative process or can be made by an executive order. There are many ways that laws can impact businesses, from the way that they affect taxation to the way that they govern the behavior of employees.
In California, a new law will require companies with 15 or more employees to post salary ranges in job postings. This should help to make it easier for job seekers to compare salaries at different companies. Some critics say that the new rule could lead to unequal pay based on gender, race or position, but advocates point out that this is already happening, so the change is a small step in the right direction.
Another example of new law is a requirement to disclose data breaches to individuals affected by the breach. This bill would amend City data breach disclosure laws to make them more consistent with State law and to expand the definition of a breach involving personal identifying information to include situations where the person believes that their information has been accessed, disclosed or used by an unauthorized person.
A final example of new law is a proposal that would require City agencies to provide notices to their employees and job applicants regarding student loan forgiveness programs. The bill would also require City agencies to provide DCWP with a list of all such programs. DCWP would then make this information available to employees and job applicants, as well as the public.