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One of the biggest hurdles for family businesses is the need to develop an attractive long-term incentive plan that recognizes enterprise value over time and is competitive with plans offered by public and private equity owned businesses. As a result, many firms are turning toward phantom stock—a long-term incentive vehicle that provides equity-like awards, without using actual shares.

As a business owner, you wouldn’t operate without a clear vision and strategic plan. And you wouldn’t embark on a new initiative without first reviewing your cash flow and income statement to know how realistic your plans are. For ultra-high net worth families, looking at family wealth through a similar lens, and treating your wealth as a business can help you achieve your wealth goals and objectives.

Whether an employee leaves for another job or because the employer decided it was time for the employee to go, employers typically need to figure out how to replace a departing worker. Sometimes, the break is clean. Other times, it can be complicated. Regardless of the reason or circumstance, now-former employees may have post-employment obligations to the business or organization that employers should immediately consider and, if necessary, act upon.

If you are a business owner, one thing is certain: At some point, you will exit your company. In order to leave—on your terms and when the time is right—you should begin to design your plan now in order to achieve a successful outcome. Many owners often believe that their exit plan begins when they receive an offer for their business. That should not be the case. Exit planning is a journey. If done correctly, you will increase the chances of your transition vision coming true.

The trend of states legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana use continues to gain momentum. Unfortunately for employers, this also means having to wade through an ever-growing patchwork of marijuana laws across the country. The latest development addresses one discrete but important distinction for recreationally legalized marijuana. Employers would be wise to consider their reasons for having zero-tolerance policies and whether those policies can be tailored to avoid confusion on the ‘lawful product’ interpretation.

On the day that New York State honored the U.S. women’s soccer team for their World Cup victory—a team whose members have publicly demanded pay equity with the U.S. men’s soccer team—Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation amending the state’s pay equity law. Employers everywhere should pay attention to developments on the state and local wage front, as issues of pay and pay equity continue to occupy center stage.

Lawmakers are well aware of the significant contributions to economic and job growth made by small businesses. As a direct incentive for starting and investing in small businesses, Congress has provided varying levels of beneficial treatment in the tax code for Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) since 1993. With the recent tax laws, including the reduction of the C Corporation tax rate to a flat 21%, it has made C Corporation status and QSBS treatment more attractive.

Employers of all sizes inadvertently put themselves at risk by not having a policy establishing how long to continue benefits during a leave of absence (LOA). So, before the important questions arise, employers should establish an LOA Policy that considers employee needs, carrier contractual provisions, federal and state benefit regulations, and the employer’s company culture. Having a policy in place and regularly updated will minimize costly risks, as well as create an easier path to communication when employees will need it most.

With the implementation of California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) set to go into effect January 1, 2020, anyone doing businesses with California residents should not only be preparing their digital strategies to comply with the new law, they should also be assessing their risk and reviewing their cyber insurance and adequacy of limits. Why? Now, at $100 minimum per individual incident, a small data breach of 5,000 people equates to $500,000 in damages. Given the minimum statutory damage provision, expect a significant uptick in class action lawsuits following data breaches.

A high-quality board of directors with a range of talents and experience can be a powerful resource for your company. Taking steps to ensure your board is well-designed, well-informed, and properly engaged will reap significant benefits for your company’s shareholders and management team.