United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-09-30 monographic deposited born digital 68 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-98-208 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208 P0b002ee180376fc7 f:he98208 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208 HEHS-98-208 Federal regulations Occupational safety Working conditions Reporting requirements Labor administrative law Statutory law Corporations State law California Letter Report HEHS

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO compiled a list of the federal and state laws that apply to California businesses of different sizes, and selected two industries within that state to illustrate compliance with selected laws, focusing on the: (1) requirements of federal and state laws affecting the workplace, tax-related, and environmental practices of California manufacturing firms of different sizes; (2) assistance available to firms to help identify applicable laws and understand their implications on operations; and (3) impact workplace and tax laws have had on the human resource operations at firms in the high-tech electronics and aerospace industries.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) both federal and state laws impose a number of requirements affecting the workplace, tax-related, and environmental practices of California manufacturing firms; (2) as employers, firms must comply with federal and state laws; (3) firms also must report income resulting from their operations and pay taxes to the federal and California state governments; (4) in addition, as firms manufacture goods and dispose of their waste, they must comply with state and federal environmental laws regulating use, storage, and disposal of hazardous substances and releases into the air; (5) although a number of laws take effect as firms hire more employees, particularly those laws that are workplace-related, most laws have at least some requirements for all firms, regardless of the number of employees; (6) the interrelationships between federal and state laws in the different areas of regulation vary; (7) in many cases, California law sets more comprehensive standards with which businesses must comply than federal law does; (8) many sources of information are available to help firms identify and meet the legal requirements imposed on them; (9) although no one public agency--either federal or state--coordinates or produces a complete resource guide identifying all legal requirements that apply to California manufacturers, many California and federal agencies have individually sponsored activities to assist firms in complying with legal requirements; (10) however, company managers GAO spoke with seemed unwilling to rely on information provided by state or federal agency staff or to invest the time required to access, research, and understand the available information; (11) instead, these managers rely on trade or business organizations and outside experts to help them understand and remain abreast of new developments in federal and state laws and regulations; (12) managers overseeing human resource operations at the seven California manufacturing firms GAO visited have implemented a variety of approaches to meet their regulatory obligations; (13) while each of the firms had developed strategies to comply with the laws, each was concerned that certain requirements involved excessive complexity, paperwork, or cost, although there was little pattern in the firms' areas of complaint; (14) in general, managers expressed frustration with never being sure they were in complete compliance with all applicable requirements; and (15) notwithstanding these concerns, managers also cited areas in which they believed regulations helped to improve the workplace. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208.pdf GAO/HEHS-98-208 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-98-208 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-98-208; Business Regulation: California Manufacturers Use Multiple Strategies to Comply with Laws; Federal regulations Occupational safety Working conditions Reporting requirements Labor administrative law Statutory law Corporations State law California Title 8 Section 1101et seq. 8 U.S.C. 1101et seq. Title 20 Section 621et seq. 20 U.S.C. 621et seq. Title 29 Section 1001et seq. Title 29 Section 151et seq. Title 29 Section 2001et seq. Title 29 Section 201et seq. Title 29 Section 206d Title 29 Section 2101et seq. Title 29 Section 2601et seq. Title 29 Section 2612 Title 29 Section 401 Title 29 Section 651et seq. Title 29 Section 793 29 U.S.C. 1001et seq. 29 U.S.C. 151et seq. 29 U.S.C. 2001et seq. 29 U.S.C. 201et seq. 29 U.S.C. 206d 29 U.S.C. 2101et seq. 29 U.S.C. 2601et seq. 29 U.S.C. 2612 29 U.S.C. 401 29 U.S.C. 651et seq. 29 U.S.C. 793 Title 38 Section 4212et seq. Title 38 Section 4301 Title 38 Section 4301et seq. 38 U.S.C. 4212et seq. 38 U.S.C. 4301 38 U.S.C. 4301et seq. Title 40 Section 327et seq. 40 U.S.C. 327et seq. Title 41 Section 35et seq. Title 41 Section 701 41 U.S.C. 35et seq. 41 U.S.C. 701 Title 42 Section 12101et seq. Title 42 Section 2000eet seq. Title 42 Section 654 42 U.S.C. 12101et seq. 42 U.S.C. 2000eet seq. 42 U.S.C. 654