HR Laws Every Small Business Owner Must Follow: A Practical Breakdown for Companies with 49 or Fewer Employees
Release Date: 12/09/2025
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info_outlineIn this solo livestream episode, Jason Cavness walks small business owners through the HR laws you must follow when you have 49 or fewer employees. Jason draws from more than 30 years of HR experience, 25 years as a retired U.S. Army officer, and over a decade working with startups to explain complicated HR rules in a simple, practical way.
Jason covers what federal government actually requires, why most HR mistakes come from confusion rather than bad intent, and how ignoring even one rule can lead to fines, audits, lawsuits, and massive headaches for small business owners.
Using real examples, stories from his career, and questions from livestream viewers, Jason breaks down what every employer needs to know: overtime rules, payroll tax obligations, discrimination laws, onboarding requirements, union rules, ADA accommodations, pregnancy protections, military employment rights, OSHA issues, misclassification risks, and more.
If you’re a founder, small business owner, or early-stage startup leader, this episode gives you a straightforward roadmap for staying compliant and protecting your business before something goes wrong.
Topics Discussed
• Why HR feels complicated and why it really isn’t
• The real reason most small businesses get fined
• Drug-Free Workplace Act and who it does and does not apply to
• Audio monitoring vs video monitoring rules
• Polygraph testing and the extremely rare cases where it’s allowed
• Military employment rights and what employers must provide
• Workplace safety, chemical safety sheets, and OSHA basics
• Employee rights to discuss wages, schedules, and working conditions
• Equal Pay Act misunderstandings and why negotiation habits matter
• Minimum wage, overtime, exempt vs non-exempt rules • Why you must pay overtime even when you tell someone not to work it
• I-9 verification, E-Verify, and immigration compliance
• Payroll tax responsibilities • ADA and reasonable accommodation requirements
• Pregnancy discrimination and common employer mistakes • Genetic information discrimination and health insurance issues
• Title VII Civil Rights Act protections
• LGBTQ workplace protections
• Age discrimination rules and why age 40 is the legal threshold
• COBRA continuation for companies offering health benefits
• Worker misclassification and how calling someone a contractor doesn’t make them one
• Why unions form and how employers accidentally trigger unionization
• What CavnessHR is building to automate HR and prevent these problems Support CavnessHR CavnessHR is building an AI-native HR system for small businesses with 49 or fewer employees automated compliance plus access to a dedicated HR Business Partner.
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