New state laws have taken effect in California that will improve the lot of many workers in 2019, including those earning minimum wage, port truckers, farm laborers, sexual harassment victims, nursing mothers, high-powered female executives and workers injured on the job. A bevy of laws were passed which implemented gradual minimum wage increases, prevents businesses from requiring non-disclosure agreements for sexual harassment cases, and requires publicly traded California companies to have at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019, with more by the end of 2021 for boards of five members or more. California businesses are less pleased, saying that the new laws will significantly impact them financially and may lead to more businesses being sued.
See "In 2019, California workers gain on pay and working conditions. Employers say it will be costly", Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2019