Change Is Here: New Workplace Laws Affect Santa Barbara Businesses

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Change isn’t coming — it’s here.

And for small businesses across Santa Barbara, that change is hitting hard.

“I don’t know any of the changes… I wasn’t really aware changes were being implemented this year,” said Andrew Rawls, owner of The Crafters Library.

“It’s a big burden … because we’ll go to jail if we don’t!” added Alison Hardey, owner of Jeannine’s Restaurant & Bakery.

Attorneys Victoria Diffenderfer and Olivia Young of Fauver, Large, Archbald and Spray LLP warn the new laws reach companies of every size.

“Employers are now required to be very specific with data supporting job postings and salary ranges,” Diffenderfer explained.

“These laws are put in place to protect consumers and protect the individuals who are receiving your services through your business … it’s important to set the groundwork now,” Young said.

For some owners, the pace of change feels overwhelming.

“Oh. We can’t keep up. We get a notice and think, ‘Oh no — what’s this one?’ Then we scramble,” Hardey said.

“Usually what ends up happening is once we’re told we’re out of compliance then we’re like oh we didn’t even know this was a thing,” Rawls added.

The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce isn’t surprised.

“It’s understandable. Small businesses can’t possibly know every new rule — but we don’t want them tripped up by something they didn’t even know existed,” said Kristen Miller, President and CEO.

She said the Chamber works to identify which new laws affect specific businesses and advocates on their behalf when conflicts arise.

“Our goal is to help businesses really identify which new laws or regulations affect them and then if they identify a trip up or a conflict with another law, then to rely on us to go to government and try to smooth that out,” Miller said.

Some changes are hitting harder than others.

For example, Rawls had to revise pay scales — but higher payroll hasn’t meant higher sales.

“As a business owner, I have to balance the fact that I now need to pay my employees more so they can survive — but it doesn’t necessarily translate into more shoppers and more patrons in my store so my bottom line is being eaten away by that — it’s a Catch-22,” Rawls said.

The Chamber’s main concern is the pace of change.

“This extra layer of the pace of change on regulation adds complexity to an already difficult path — that’s what we are really concerned about,” she said.

Still, the Chamber is not urging businesses to resist change — but to survive it.

“Ultimately everyone wants our local economy to thrive — it brings everyone up so anything we can do to make those numbers go up not down is a positive,” Miller said.

For Hardey, the message is simple.

“We need the help — we just want to stay in business. If the Chamber can help small business, we’re all ears,” she said.

Because in today’s economy, understanding the law may be just as important as making the sale.