California’s 2025 legislative session introduced important changes impacting employers and employees. Out of a total of 917 bills, 794 became law, including approximately 70 that focused on employment issues. Employers should act promptly to ensure compliance with the new regulations, effective Jan. 1, 2026, unless otherwise specified.
California’s minimum wage has increased from $16.50 per hour to $16.90 per hour. The increase also affects the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees, raising it from $68,640 per year (or $5,720 per month) to $70,304 per year (or $5,858.67 per month).
Employers must also be mindful of local minimum wage increases. For information on which cities/counties are set for a January 1 increase, review the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s inventory of city and county minimum wage information.
AB 406 – Victims of Violence (Effective Oct. 1, 2025)
AB 406 restores and recasts specific Labor Code sections that were deleted by last year’s AB 2499 (expanded employee protections for victims of “qualifying acts of violence” and their family members, aligning these rights with the Fair Employment and Housing Act). AB 406 provides important clarifications regarding jurisdiction over claims between the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Civil Rights Department.
The restored Labor Code sections now align with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), specifically incorporating existing provisions that allow crime victims to utilize paid sick leave for crime-related purposes. These changes clarify that employees may use paid sick leave for jury duty and for court appearances when serving as witnesses under subpoena, in addition to expanded unpaid leave rights to support victims of serious crimes and their designated family members. The legislation also reinforces employers’ obligations to provide written notice of these rights, maintain strict confidentiality, offer reasonable accommodations and allow the use of accrued paid leave for activities connected to crime or abuse.
SB 303 – Bias Mitigation Training (Effective Oct. 1, 2025)
SB 303 strengthens an employer’s ability to provide bias mitigation training. Effective Oct. 1, 2025, SB 303 clarifies that an employee’s good-faith participation in bias mitigation training—including self-assessment, testing, or acknowledgment of implicit biases—cannot, by itself, be considered unlawful discrimination.
SB 303 is meant to encourage employers to conduct bias mitigation training, including self-reflection exercises, workshops and facilitated discussions, without fear of legal retaliation or discrimination claims arising solely from those activities.
The statute explicitly states that such participation will not constitute unlawful discrimination as long as it’s conducted in good faith and is intended as part of comprehensive bias mitigation training.
SB 464 – Employer Pay Data (Job categories expand effective Jan. 1, 2027)
SB 464 makes key updates to pay data reporting requirements. Employers must now collect and store demographic data for reporting separately from personnel records. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, the number of job categories to report will expand from 10 to 23
(See Govt. Code Sec. 12999(b)(1(A-W)). Courts are also now required to impose civil penalties if employers fail to submit reports when requested by the Civil Rights Department, emphasizing the importance of compliance.
SB 261 – DLSE: Orders, Decisions and Awards
SB 261 requires the Labor Commissioner to post a copy of any order, decision or award on its website no later than 15 days from when the deadline to appeal the decision expired, and no appeal is pending.
SB 261 also requires the Labor Commissioner to post the information of employers with unsatisfied judgments when the time to appeal has expired and no appeal is pending, with provisions for the removal of such information and advance notice to such an employer. Additionally, SB 261 creates a new civil penalty of three times the outstanding judgment when an employer has a final judgment for nonpayment of wages that has remained unsatisfied for 180 days after the time to appeal has expired and that has no appeal pending.
SB 642 – Payment of Wages
SB 642 updates the state’s Equal Pay Act (the Act). Changes include redefining the terms “pay scale,” “sex,” “wages” and “wage rates,” extending the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action to recover wages, and providing guidance on what constitutes a violation under the Act.
The Act currently defines “pay scale” as the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position. SB 642’s revised definition makes clear the term means, “a good faith estimate of the expected wage range that an employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire.” SB 642 also clarifies that employers are prohibited from paying employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of “another sex” instead of the “opposite sex.”
The statute also clarifies—for purposes of the Act only—that “wages” and “wage rates” 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.
SB 642 also extends the limitations period to bring a civil action to recover wages to no later than three years after the last date the cause of action occurs and allows an employee to obtain relief for the entire period of time in which a violation exists, limited to six years. Further revisions make clear that a cause of action occurs when an alleged unlawful compensation decision or practice is adopted; an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice; or an individual is affected by the application of the decision
or practice.
AB 692 – Contracts in Restraint of Trade
AB 692 prohibits employment contracts from requiring workers to pay debts, fees or penalties if their employment ends, or allowing debt collection to resume upon termination. Such contract terms are void as against public policy because they restrict lawful employment.
Limited exceptions exist for separately offered contracts to repay tuition for transferable credentials and employees must be informed of their right to consult an attorney and given at least five business days to do so before signing.
The statute allows employees or their representatives to bring private lawsuits for violations, with penalties including actual damages or $5,000 per worker, plus injunctive relief and attorney’s fees.
AB 288 – Labor Organization (Litigation Pending)
AB 288 amends the Labor Code to expand the jurisdiction of California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a state agency with the authority to enforce federal labor laws in the absence of action by the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), and allows PERB to resolve private sector issues of federal labor law and grant appropriate relief if the NLRB has expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction.
In addition to allowing PERB to order any appropriate remedy, including injunctive relief and penalties to resolve unfair labor practice charges, AB 288 grants PERB the authority to assess civil penalties in the amount of $1,000 per worker per violation to employers it finds have engaged in a pattern or practice of committing unfair labor practices.
The legality of AB 288 was immediately challenged by the NLRB, which filed a lawsuit against the State of California and PERB seeking to block enforcement of the new statute. The NLRB contends that AB 288 is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
SB 294 – The Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Effective Jan. 1, 2026; notice requirements effective Feb. 1, 2026)
The Workplace Know Your Rights Act (SB 294) requires the California Labor Commissioner to post a Notice template for employers by Jan. 1, 2026, with annual updates released thereafter. The Notice is required to provide information on workers’ compensation, immigration protections, union rights and constitutional protections during law enforcement interactions at the workplace.
Employers are required to provide this Notice to employees by Feb. 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, as well as to new hires and, if applicable, employee representatives (e.g., union representation). Notices must be in the language commonly used by the employer (if provided by the Labor Commissioner), and employees must be allowed to designate an emergency contact in case of arrest or detention at work by March 30, 2026.
Penalties for noncompliance include up to $500 per employee per violation, and for emergency contact violations, up to $500 per day (maximum $10,000 per employee).
SB 617 – Cal-WARN
Under Cal-WARN, employers must give 60 days’ written notice before mass layoffs, relocations or terminations. SB 617 adds that this notice must state whether the employer will coordinate services with the local workforce development board (LWDB), provide details on CalFresh food assistance (including the helpline and website) and include contact information for both the LWDB and the employer. The notice must also include a statutory description of LWDB rapid response services to help laid-off workers find new jobs. If coordinated services are offered, they must be arranged within 30 days of the notice.
SB 590 – Paid Family Leave (Effective July 1, 2028)
SB 590 expands California’s Paid Family Leave program to cover individuals caring for a “designated person,” defined as someone related by blood or with a family-like relationship. Starting July 1, 2028, employees can receive wage replacement benefits for caring for such individuals, provided they identify and attest to the relationship under penalty of perjury.
SB 513 – Personnel Records
SB 513 expands the scope of personnel records that current and former employees, or their representatives, have the right
to inspect and receive a copy of to include education or training records. The new statute also requires employers who maintain education or training records to ensure those records include the name of the employee and the training provider, the core competencies of the training and any resulting certification or qualification earned.
SB 59 – Change of Name or Gender and Sex Identifier
SB 59 imposes stricter requirements on employers to ensure that medical information obtained in the course of employment is kept strictly confidential and used only for legitimate business purposes.
Maintaining confidentiality is mandatory under SB 59, meaning that medical details—such as health conditions, treatment records or related documentation—cannot be disclosed except in limited circumstances specifically authorized by law, such as compliance with subpoenas, benefit administration or workers’ compensation claims. For any other disclosure of medical information, the employee’s explicit written authorization is required.
SB 446 – Data Breaches
SB 446 updates California’s data breach notification rules, requiring businesses to notify affected residents within 30 days of discovering a breach. If more than 500 residents are affected, a sample notice must be sent to the Attorney General within 15 days. Notification can be delayed for law enforcement or to assess the breach. SB 446 also sets a standard notice format and makes missing the 30-day deadline “per se” evidence of a violation, with possible fines and private lawsuits under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Regulatory Enforcement – CPPA: Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) (Effective Jan. 1, 2027)
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) is responsible for creating and enforcing California’s Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) regulations. In its second round of regulatory enforcement, the Agency is focusing on ADMT as it applies to significant decisions in the employment and job applicant contexts. Specific triggers for compliance arise when an organization subject to the CCPA uses ADMT to make significant employment decisions, such as those related to hiring, promotions or benefits. Compliance is also required for activities that present a high privacy risk—including selling or sharing personal information, processing sensitive personal data or profiling employees or candidates.
Additionally, businesses that meet certain size thresholds, such as generating more than $50 million in annual revenue, may be subject to cybersecurity audit requirements, with phased deadlines beginning in 2028.
Entities not covered by these new regulatory requirements include non-profit organizations and any organization that does not fall within the scope of the CCPA—such as those not meeting the relevant thresholds or not handling the personal data of California residents.
