Part 3 of 3: Perception, Future Trends, and the Role of HR Tech
In this final installment, we shift from diagnosis to implications. After situating California within the US and global context, we’ll explore why the “impossible to operate” narrative persists and how HR technology can transform high-compliance environments into lasting advantages.
High wages, aggressive enforcement, litigation exposure, and complex rules do create real operational friction, and business-oriented groups consistently highlight these burdens.
But in practice, part of this also stems less from irrational rules but more from the collision of California’s modern workforce standards with outdated, under-resourced HR teams and fragmented systems. For many companies, these laws and their internal resources are like oil and water. Multi-jurisdiction employers face friction, especially if their HR tech isn’t suited for nuanced scheduling, pay, and reporting.
However, when you stand back and look at the country as a whole, California seems like a preview for what’s approaching for every US state.
For younger working Americans like Gen Z and Millennials, who’ve grown up on global social media and cheap travel, there’s been a noticeable shift towards more European or Canadian-style expectations—higher wages, stronger work protections, and greater transparency. This is a trend that will become impossible to ignore if you want to remain competitive.
As per the preliminary results of a 3Sixty Insights survey with Mitratech, I’m seeing signs that support this trend. According to the results, 76% of respondents reported increasing compliance pressures with more corroborating evidence to follow as we continue to analyze the data. I also understand, from briefings with vendors and end-users alike, that it can be difficult, if not impossible, for individuals and teams to stay ahead of every relevant law across all the regions where they operate. Fortunately, a few solutions have stood out to me as being experts in addressing this:
- Mitratech: A robust point solution specifically for managing compliance
- isolved: A core HR suite with compliance baked in, including tools like I-9 verification
- UKG: Holistic and user-friendly AI capabilities that help maintain compliance across areas such as shift/hour caps, certification tracking, and more for frontline workers.
- Insperity: An outsourced model that assumes full responsibility for employee management, including compliance.
Taken together, if we head towards a world where designing for compliance is a core capability, not an afterthought, it won’t be who has the least compliance, but instead organizations that have turned to HR tech vendors to navigate and adhere to a complex regulatory landscape into durable worker protections, fewer surprises, and a competitive advantage.
California isn’t so much a cautionary tale as an early warning sign. Organizations that modernize their operating models and HR tech stacks to meet higher standards—rather than lower—are most likely to handle rising compliance pressures and turn them into improvements in productivity, trust, and long-term competitiveness.
Read part 2 here: California Labor Laws and Compliance: Burden, Benchmark, or Competitive Advantage? | Global Context & Real-World Impacts
Read part 1 here: California Labor Laws and Compliance: Burden, Benchmark, or Competitive Advantage? | Myths, Realities, and US Benchmarks