They’re hee-ere – spooky season has crept in, and once again, the California Legislature is treating employers with pumpkin to talk about in 2026! While it may be tempting, don’t ghost these updates – some laws have risen from the grave and taken effect. So grab your broomsticks and compliance checklists and let the ghoul times roll as we discover witch ways these new laws will be haunting your workplace!
Anti-Discrimination and Harassment
Extends SOL for Sexual Assault Claims
Currently, plaintiffs may revive claims to recover damages for sexual assault (involving a cover up) that would otherwise be barred prior to January 1, 2023, because the statute of limitations has expired. AB250 will extend the time to revive such claims to January 1, 2026, or, if not filed by that date, to be commenced between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027.
Encourages Bias Mitigation Training
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act requires employers to prevent workplace discrimination and provide harassment prevention training. SB303 encourages employers to conduct bias mitigation training by:
- Affirming that conducting bias mitigation training does not, by itself, constitute unlawful discrimination; and
- Providing that an employee’s good faith assessment, admission, or acknowledgment of their personal bias that was solicited or required as part of bias mitigation training does not constitute unlawful discrimination.
Pay Transparency
Revises Pay Data Reporting Requirements
Currently, employers with at least 100 employees are required to submit an annual pay data report to the Civil Rights Department to include pay and demographic information on each employee in 10 specified job categories. SB464 will require employers to collect and store demographic payroll data separately from employees’ personnel records. Effective January 1, 2027, the number of job categories for reporting will increase from 10 to 23.
Updates CA’s Equal Pay Act
Currently, employers are required to disclose the “pay scale” for a position with an applicant or in a job posting, and requires pay equity claims to be filed within two years after the cause of action occurred. SB642 will:
- Revise the definition of pay scale to mean “a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire.”
- Define “wages” and “wage rates” to include “all forms of pay, including, but not limited to, salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits.”
- Extend the time to file a pay equity claim to three years from the last date the cause of action occurs.
- Allow an employee to recover lost wages for the entire period of time during which the violation occurred, for up to six years.
Paid and Unpaid Leave
Expands Covered Uses Under CA’s Paid and Unpaid Leave Laws
AB406 amends both the Healthy Workplace Healthy Families Act (HWHFA) and the state’s unpaid job-protected leave law to expand covered uses for paid and unpaid leave.
- Effective as of October 1, 2025: The HWHFA explicitly incorporates two existing reasons covered under the state’s unpaid leave law – jury duty and witness under subpoena/court order – so employees can use paid leave for those reasons.
- Effective January 1, 2026: Both the HWHFA and unpaid leave law add a new covered use allowing employees to use paid and unpaid leave if they, or a family member, are a victim of certain crimes and are attending judicial proceedings related to the crime.
For this covered use only, a “victim” is defined as a person against whom a felony is committed that is violent, serious, or involves theft or embezzlement; or a person who suffers direct or threatened harm resulting from the commission or attempted commission of certain crimes or acts, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony child abuse, assault resulting in the death of a child under eight years, felony domestic violence, felony abuse of an elder or dependent, felony stalking, solicitation of murder, hit-and-run causing death or injury, felony driving under the influence, or sexual assault.
Expands Paid Family Leave – “Designated Person”
Currently, the state’s paid family leave program allows workers to take time off for qualifying reasons, including to care for a seriously ill family member. Effective July 1, 2028, SB590 will expand eligibility for benefits to include individuals who take time off to care for a seriously ill “designated person,” defined as “any care recipient related by blood or whose association with the individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
Wage and Hour
Prohibits “Stay-or-Pay” Provisions
For contracts entered on or after January 1, 2026, with employees and prospective employees, AB692 will prohibit certain training and retention payment provisions and other stay-or-pay provisions as void and contrary to public policy, if any such terms:
- Require the worker to pay an employer, training provider, or debt collector for a debt if the employment relationship terminates;
- Authorize the employer, training provider, or debt collector to collect or end forbearance on a debt if the employment relationship terminates; or
- Impose a penalty, fee, or cost on a worker if the employment relationship terminates.
Certain repayment agreements, including those involving discretionary bonuses, will be exempt if certain criteria are met. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Repayment terms are included in a contract separate from the employment agreement;
- The employee is notified of the right to consult an attorney and is given at least five business days to do so before executing the agreement;
- Repayment obligations for early separation does not accrue interest and is prorated based on the remaining retention period, not to exceed two years;
- The employee has the option to defer receipt of the payment until the end of the retention period without repayment obligations; and
- Separation prior to the retention period was voluntary by the employee or was for misconduct.
Increases Unpaid Wage Judgment Penalties
SB261 will increase penalties for unpaid wage judgments, impose mandatory attorneys’ fees, and broaden the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) Labor Commissioner’s prosecutorial authority. Among other things, the legislation will:
- Establish a civil penalty not to exceed three times the outstanding judgment for employers who fail to satisfy the judgment within 180 days.
- Permit the employer to show clear and convincing evidence of good cause to reduce the penalty.
- Provide that the court-assessed penalty will be distributed 50/50 between the employee and the DLSE.
- Allow employees to recover all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs for enforcing the judgment.
- Provide that debtor successors are jointly and severally liable for unpaid judgments.
Authorizes Labor Commissioner to Enforce Tip Theft
SB648 will authorize the Labor Commissioner to investigate and issue citations or file a civil action for gratuities taken or withheld by an employer or agent.
Worker Protections
Expands PERB’s Authority
Currently, California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) oversees collective bargaining in the public sector. AB288 will expand PERB’s authority by allowing it to hear certain unfair labor practice cases in the private sector, and take actions historically falling under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), if:
- Federal protections under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) are repealed, narrowed, or enforcement is blocked, and the worker is not covered by other labor laws; or
- The NLRB is unable or unwilling to act due to a lack of quorum, significant case processing delays, or insufficient resources to act on union certification or unfair labor practice complaints within statutory timeframes.
Among other things, the legislation will:
- Authorize a worker to petition PERB to protect and enforce their rights to engage in collective action; organize, join, or assist labor organizations; and engage in collective bargaining that results in an agreement related to their terms and conditions of employment.
- Authorize PERB to decide unfair labor practice cases and order appropriate relief, including civil penalties.
- Require PERB to retain in its investigatory file and hold as confidential any supporting documentation and evidence filed in an unfair practice charge or petition.
- Require civil penalties to be deposited into the Public Employment Relations Board Enforcement Fund to be made available for PERB’s enforcement efforts.
- Authorize PERB to rely on its own decisions and NLRA precedent, and authorize review of its decisions by a state appellate court.
Expands Cal/WARN Notice Requirements
SB617 will require employers covered under the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (Cal/WARN) to include additional information in its notices regarding the employer’s plans to coordinate services, and information on the statewide food assistance program, CalFresh. Specifically, the notice must include:
- Whether the employer plans to coordinate services through the local workforce development board or a different entity, or if the employer does not plan to coordinate services with any entity.
- The local workforce development board’s email, telephone number, and the following description: “Local Workforce Development Boards and their partners help laid off workers find new jobs. Visit an America’s Job Center of California location near you. You can get help with your resume, practice interviewing, search for jobs, and more. You can also learn about training programs to help start a new career.”
- A description of CalFresh, CalFresh’s benefits helpline, and a link to CalFresh’s website.
- The employer’s email and telephone number.
Employers who choose to coordinate services with the local workforce development board or other entity must arrange services within 30 days of the notice date.
Extends COVID Right-of-Recall Provisions
Employers are required to provide certain hospitality employees who were laid off for COVID-related reasons with information about available job positions and to offer those positions based on a preference system. AB858 extends these right-of-recall provisions until January 1, 2027.
Workplace Recordkeeping and Notices
Expands Scope of “Personnel Records”
Current and former employees have the right to inspect and receive a copy of their personnel records related to their performance or any grievance. SB513 will expand the scope of personnel records to include education or training records, which must include:
- Employee’s name
- Training provider name
- Duration and date of the training
- Core competencies of the training, including skills in equipment or software
- Resulting certification or qualification
Establishes “Workplace Know Your Rights Act” – New Notice Requirement
SB294 establishes the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, which requires that on or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, employers must provide each employee with a stand-alone written notice of specified workers’ rights and their constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace. By January 1, 2026, a template notice will be available on the DLSE’s website. By March 30, 2026, employers also must offer employees the opportunity to provide an emergency contact to be notified if the employee is arrested or detained at work.
Prohibits “Geofencing” in Health Care Services
AB45 will prohibit “geofencing” – defined as “any technology that enables spatial or location detection to establish a virtual boundary around, and detect an individual’s presence within, a ‘precise geolocation’” – or selling or sharing personal information with a third party to “geofence” an entity that provides in-person health care services to:
- Identify or track a person seeking, receiving, or providing health care services;
- Collect personal information from a person seeking, receiving, or providing health care services;
- Send notifications to a person related to their personal information or health care services; or
- Send advertisements to a person related to their personal information or health care services.
Additional prohibitions include:
- Releasing research records with personally identifiable information that is developed or acquired while conducting research related to anyone seeking or obtaining health care services; or
- Relating personal information in response to subpoenas, requests, or law enforcement if the purpose is related to another state’s laws that interfere with a person’s abortion-related rights or to enforce an out-of-state penal civil action.
Expands Data Breach Notice Requirements
Currently, California businesses are required to disclose to affected California residents any security data breaches in the most expedient time possible without unreasonable delay. Businesses making disclosures to more than 500 California residents also are required to submit a copy of the notice to the Attorney General. SB446 will tighten the notification rules to:
- Require disclosures to be made to California residents within 30 calendar days of discovery or notification of the data breach; and
- Require businesses making disclosures to more than 500 California residents to submit a copy of the notice to the Attorney General within 15 calendar days of notifying consumers.
Significant Vetoes
Feeling a little deja boo? Let’s unearth some closely-watched bills that Governor Newsom laid to rest this session:
- SB7 would have required employers utilizing automated decision systems (ADS) for employment-related decisions to provide pre- and post-use notices to all directly or indirectly affected workers and applicants. It also would have prohibited the use of certain ADS and limited the ways in which ADS could be used to make decisions.
- SB355 would have required employers to provide documentation to the Labor Commissioner within 60 days of a judgment entry against the employer requiring payment to an employee or the state that, as applicable: (1) the judgment is fully satisfied; (2) a bond has been posted; or (3) the judgment debtor has entered into an agreement for the judgment to be paid in installments.
- AB1136 would have required certain employers to provide employees with up to five unpaid days within a 12-month period to attend immigration-related proceedings; reinstate any employee terminated for their inability to provide work authorization documents once proper authorization is produced; and place an employee detained in deportation proceedings on an unpaid leave of absence for up to 12 months.
- AB1326 would have established a legal right for individuals to wear a “health mask” in public places for health-related reasons, except where removal is necessary for identification, essential workplace functions, or emergency health care protocols.
Employer Takeaways
It’s a grave new world for 2026, but fear not – employers can slay compliance requirements with the following steps:
- Ensure pay data reporting information is stored separately from personnel records
- Ensure pay disclosures comport with the revised definition of “pay scale”
- Revise leave policies to incorporate expanded coverage under the HWHFA, unpaid leave law, and paid family leave program
- Revise stay-or-pay provisions to exclude prohibited terms, and ensure that agreements for discretionary bonus payments meet specified criteria
- Revise Cal/WARN notices to include additional information required
- Update personnel recordkeeping procedures to include education and training records
- Monitor for the Workplace Know Your Rights Act notice – distribute when published and offer to obtain emergency contact information
- Update procedures regarding the release of health care-related information
- Update data breach notice requirements to ensure timely notification
If you have any questions related to any new laws or need assistance preparing for compliance, please reach out to the NFC Attorney with whom you typically work or call us at 619.292.0515.