2026 California Employment Law Updates - Part III
We hope you are enjoying the holiday season and winding down for the year. Below is Part III of our 2026 California Employment Law Update, highlighting new employment and labor laws relevant to California employers.
Please be sure to RSVP to our complimentary 2026 California Employment Law Update webinar for existing and prospective clients on January 15, 2026 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST, which you can RSVP for here.
SB 294: Workplace Know Your Rights Act & Notice Requirement
This law will require employers, by February 1, 2026 and annually thereafter, to provide a standalone notice to current employees (and new employees upon hire) regarding existing categories of rights and duties pertaining to things like workers’ compensation, but also encompassing the constitutional rights of employees when interacting with law enforcement in the workplace.
By July 1, 2026, the agency will also develop videos for both employees and employers explaining their rights and responsibilities in this context. By March 30, 2026, employers must begin allowing existing employees and new hires to designate an emergency contact that the employer must notify at an employee’s request if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite. We will send out the model notice to those subscribed to this newsletter when the notice is released.The Labor Commissioner must develop a model notice by January 1, 2026, and update it annually.
Both the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors will be empowered to enforce this law, which carries penalties of up to $500 per employee for each violation, and up to $500 per day (up to a maximum of $10,000) for violations of the right to name emergency contacts or have them notified. Employers must keep records of compliance for three years, including the date that each notice is sent.
AB 288: Expanding PERB Jurisdiction to Private Sector Employees
In response to current interruptions in the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) functioning due to a lack of quorum, among other factors, California has joined at least one other state in seeking to provide alternative protections for employees who may no longer be able to pursue remedies through established federal processes. In passing AB 288, California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) would expand its current jurisdiction over public sector employees to include employees in the private sector who would otherwise be under the jurisdiction of the NLRB.
As expected, as of October 15, 2025,the NLRB has filed a lawsuit against California to stop AB 288’s implementation on the grounds that it is preemptedby the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA); a similar challenge has been levied against an analogous law that was recently passed in New York. California’s law, if it goes into effect in 2026 as planned, would allow PERB to take actions including conducting union elections, ordering parties to binding arbitration, deciding unfair labor practice cases, and issuing penalties against employers. Employees could pursue claims through this channel if they lost coverage under the NLRA due to that law being repealed or narrowed, or because the NLRB has expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction to the states. We will continue monitoring this bill as the legal challenge to its implementation makes its way through the courts.
AB 406: Added Protections for Safe Leave
This law follows up on a significant expansion of protected leave for victims of crime and abuse that became effective earlier this year under AB 2499. Primarily, as of January 1, 2026, employees can use available paid leave (including paid sick leave) or unpaid job protected leave to attend certain judicial proceedings, including those related to delinquency, a post-arrest release decision, or where the victim’s rights are at issue, if the employee or their covered family member are a victim as defined under the law. The amendments also make more explicit last year’s new requirement that employees be allowed to use paid sick leave under California’s Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act for jury duty or to serve as a witness in court proceedings; these paid sick leave uses were already incorporated by reference in last year’s changes to unpaid leave protections. One of the more notable practical changes is that under the new law, it appears that employers can no longer ask employees to delay or defer jury duty to accommodate business needs.
SB 303: Protections for Bias Training
In an effort to encourage employers to continue engaging in bias mitigation training, the legislature passed SB 303, which affirms that any admission, assessment, testing, or acknowledgment of an employee’s own personal bias when made in good faith and solicited or required in the context of such a training does not constitute unlawful discrimination under state law. This bill amends California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), which prohibits various types of discrimination in the workplace, and takes effect January 1, 2026.
___________________________________________________________________________________
We will be in touch soon with further updates regarding additional new laws, as well as details regarding the free training we will be offering in early 2026 on compliance with these new requirements.
Clements Employment Law, P.C.
2026 California Employment Law Update Webinar
Don’t forget to RSVP for our complimentary 2026 California Employment Law Update webinar for existing and prospective clients on January 15, 2026 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST, which you can RSVP for below