California Labor Law AB-168, which prohibits employers and its agents from inquiring salary history including benefits info from applicants went into effect January 1, 2018. Please see link below.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa…/billTextClient.xhtml…

On March 5, 2018, in a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court in Alvarado v. Dart Container Corporation of California clarified how employers must calculate the regular rate of pay for purposes of compensating an employee for overtime when the employee earns a flat sum bonus in a single pay period.

On January 29, the IRS released Publication 15, (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide.

The IRS has announced that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s (TCJA; Pub. L. 115-97) new formula for calculating inflation adjustments under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) using the Chained CPI-U do not affect the tax year 2018 dollar limitations for retirement plans the agency released last October. The IRS announced limitations for tax year 2018 in IRS Notice 2017-64

The IRS has released the 2018 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and an updated version of its Withholding Calculator. Both the form and the calculator have been revised to reflect changes in the tax law made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 115-97).

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA; Pub. L. 115-97) suspends the deduction for miles driven for moving purposes for tax years 2018 through 2025. This means that all job-related moving expenses paid by the employer to or on behalf of the employee are taxable, whether for mileage or any other expense.

Updated as of 1-24-18. Prepared by the editors of PayState Update.  American Payroll Association.

https://www.americanpayroll.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/wagebases.pdf?sfvrsn=616d3c70_4

The form Notice to Employees (DE 35) has been made obsolete.  Please disregard the information referenced on page 5, step 3, and page 79 of the 2017 California Employer’s Guide

On January 11, the IRS released Notice 1036. All of the withholding allowance amounts have increased, the optional flat rate for supplemental wages up to and including $1 million has decreased to 22%, the mandatory flat rate for supplemental wages over $1 million has decreased to 37%, and the backup withholding rate has decreased to 24%. Employers are encouraged to implement the 2018 withholding tables as soon as possible, but not later than February 15, 2018.

The IRS has announced that it is revising Form W-4 and its online withholding tax calculator. The revisions will reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  Until a new Form W-4 is issued, the 2017 Form W-4 should be used.