Hiring Your First Employee: Congratulations and Condolences
So your business has grown and it's time to hire employees. WOW, that's great. Congratulations, and I'm so sorry.
Hiring your first employee is a big step for a business. Well, for some businesses it comes during the first couple of steps, but many service businesses get along with the work performed by the owners for a while, and having enough work to hire employees is indeed cause for celebration.
However, there is a huge amount of regulation involved in hiring employees. For California businesses you might think that the place to start to learn about these rules and regulations would be the Department of Industrial Relations page on the California State website. California's DIR does regulate employment issues. But their website (and the whole department) is set up for the benefit of workers, not employers (although they might well be reminded, without employers, there is no work).
While the DIR page has direct links to tell someone how to: File a Wage Claim; Know my Workers' Compensation Rights; Report a violation of the state Labor Code, it does not have a direct link to "what should I, as a small business owner, know to be a good law abiding employer." Even if you look under the Labor Law tab, you will find all sorts of information for employees wanting to file a claim, but nothing that sounds like "Help, I'm a business owner, what do I need to know?"
However, at least on the "what tax things do I need to know" front, there is a portal page for hiring employees. And on the wage and hour rules front, if you dig, you can find out about a "State Wage, Hour and Payroll Tax Seminar" and if you dig more, you can find a FAQ on Labor Laws.
Otherwise, there's a bit of hunting and clicking to gather the information you need to be a lawful employer in California.
