California continues to expand worker protections and employer obligations with significant new workplace laws taking effect throughout 2026. More than a dozen new bills signed in recent years are creating a significant expansion of worker rights and compliance requirements for employers. Understanding these changes is critical for both employers implementing new policies and employees learning about their expanded protections.
Overview: A Significant Expansion of Worker Protections
The workplace law landscape in California for 2026 reflects a sustained focus on employee protections, transparency, and fair labor standards. The bills discussed below address critical areas: worker notification rights, restrictions on employee indebtedness, collective bargaining, training record transparency, and enforcement of wage judgments. Each addresses a specific area of worker vulnerability while establishing corresponding employer obligations.
For employers, these changes require policy updates, training, documentation systems, and potential organizational changes. For employees, they represent expanded rights to information, protection from certain debt arrangements, access to training records, and stronger mechanisms for enforcing wage claims.
This post covers five bills in depth. It is not the full list. For the complete 2026 picture, including the minimum wage increases, the gratuity enforcement changes under SB 648, the pay transparency amendments to Labor Code § 432.3, the emergency contact requirements, and the PERB expansion under AB 288, see the reference guide: New California Employment Laws for 2026.
Workplace Know Your Rights Act (SB 294): Annual Notice Requirements
The Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Senate Bill 294) added Part 5.6 to Division 2 of the Labor Code, Labor Code §§ 1550 through 1559, and took effect January 1, 2026. It carries two separate deadlines, which are easy to run together and are not the same date. The written rights notice was due to every current employee on or before February 1, 2026 under section 1553, and annually after that, plus to each new employee on hire. The emergency contact opportunity under section 1555, letting an employee say whether that contact should be told if the employee is arrested or detained, was due no later than March 30, 2026 for existing employees, and at hiring for anyone hired after that date.
What the Law Requires
Employers are expected to provide all employees with written notice, annually, describing the following rights:
- Workers' compensation rights and benefits available to injured workers
- Immigration enforcement rights and what employees may do if approached by immigration authorities
- Unionization rights and the right to engage in protected union activity
- Constitutional and statutory rights related to employment
- Emergency contact information and the ability to designate emergency contacts outside the workplace
Emergency Contact Designation (Lab. Code § 1555; deadline was March 30, 2026)
That deadline has passed. Employers had to offer every existing employee the opportunity to designate an emergency contact by March 30, 2026, and must now do so at hiring for anyone hired after that date. The employee also elects whether the contact is notified if they are arrested or detained, and the employer notifies that contact where it has actual knowledge of an arrest or detention at the worksite or during work duties. Naming a contact is voluntary, so there is no requirement that every employee have one on file.
Implementation for Employers
Employers should consider:
- Drafting or updating the Know Your Rights notice document in multiple languages
- Establishing a system for distributing the notice annually to all employees
- Documenting employee receipt of the notice
- Creating an emergency contact form and secure system for storing this information
- Training management and HR on the requirements
Stay-or-Pay Agreement Restrictions (AB 692)
Assembly Bill 692 restricts employer ability to require employees to repay training costs, relocation expenses, or other benefits if the employee leaves employment within a specified period. These "stay-or-pay" agreements have been a source of employee complaints and legal disputes.
What's Prohibited
AB 692 prohibits employers from requiring employees to agree to repay:
- Relocation costs or moving expenses provided by the employer
- Training costs, professional development, or tuition reimbursement
- Licensing fees, certification costs, or professional exam fees
- Other employment-related expenses incurred by the employer
Under this law, employers cannot require employees to reimburse these costs if they leave employment, even if the employment contract or offer letter contains such a clause. This prevents employers from creating what amounts to employee indebtedness to the company.
What Employers Need to Know
Employers should:
- Audit existing employment agreements and offer letters for repayment clauses
- Remove or revise any language requiring reimbursement of training, relocation, or professional development costs
- Avoid verbal agreements about repayment obligations
- Understand the date limit: Bus. & Prof. Code § 16608 reaches contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026. AB 692 is not retroactive, and an agreement signed before that date is governed by the law that applied when it was signed. Older agreements may still be vulnerable on other grounds, but not on this one
What the statute reaches is a term making payment contingent on the work relationship ending. A genuine loan or pay advance repayable on its own schedule regardless of separation is not that. Section 16608(b)(2) then carves out five categories outright: government loan repayment and forgiveness programs; tuition for a transferable credential on stated conditions; apprenticeships approved by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards; discretionary upfront payments on stated conditions; and the lease, financing, or purchase of residential property.
Rideshare Driver Unionization (AB 1340)
Assembly Bill 1340, the Transportation Network Company Drivers Labor Relations Act, adds Chapter 10.7 to Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code beginning at § 7470, and gives rideshare drivers a sectoral collective bargaining framework. It covers transportation network company drivers only. Delivery couriers and other app-based workers are outside it, and the Act does not change anyone's classification: a covered driver remains an independent contractor.
What This Means
Rideshare platforms and drivers may now negotiate collectively regarding:
- Base compensation and per-trip pay rates
- Incentive structures and bonuses
- Deactivation procedures and due process protections
- Safety standards and equipment requirements
- Other terms of engagement between drivers and platforms
This creates a bargaining mechanism outside the traditional employer-employee relationship. Driver organizations may seek certification through the Public Employment Relations Board from May 1, 2026, TNC driver list submissions began March 31, 2026, and where the parties have not agreed after 210 days of bargaining, mediation and then binding arbitration apply.
For Employers (Rideshare Platforms)
Rideshare platforms should:
- Understand legal obligations to negotiate with driver representatives
- Develop policies for engaging in good-faith bargaining
- Review collective bargaining strategy and obligations
- Be prepared for driver organizing and representation requests
Personnel Records Expansion (SB 513)
Senate Bill 513 amends Labor Code § 1198.5, the personnel-records inspection statute, effective January 1, 2026. Current and former employees may inspect and receive copies of personnel records relating to their performance, and that now expressly includes education or training records.
It Does Not Require Anyone to Keep Training Records
This is the part most summaries get backwards, and it changes what an employer has to do. SB 513 imposes no duty to create or maintain education or training records. What it says is that an employer who maintains such records must ensure they contain specified information. An employer that keeps no training records has nothing new to build; an employer that keeps them has a content requirement.
What a Training Record Must Contain
Where the employer maintains one, each education or training record must include:
- The name of the employee
- The name of the training provider
- The duration and date of the training
- The core competencies of the training, including skills in equipment or software
- The resulting certification or qualification
That is the whole list. Tuition reimbursement and cost-sharing records are not among the required contents, and an employer reading a longer list somewhere has been given a longer list than the statute contains.
Timing, and How Often
- 30 calendar days to comply with a written request, extendable to 35 only if both sides agree in writing.
- A current employee may inspect records at the workplace with no loss of compensation.
- A former employee may request one inspection per calendar year. There is no entitlement to inspect twice a year, and a request framed that way is asking for something the section does not give.
- Personnel records, these included, must be retained for at least three years after termination.
Non-compliance carries a $750 civil penalty, injunctive relief to compel production, and reasonable attorney's fees.
For Employers
Employers should:
- Decide first whether the business maintains education or training records at all, because the content requirement only bites if it does
- Where it does, confirm each record carries all five required data points
- Build a process that answers a written request inside 30 calendar days
- Confirm personnel records are retained three years past termination
Wage Judgment Enforcement (SB 261)
Senate Bill 261 strengthens enforcement mechanisms for unpaid wage judgments. If an employer has an outstanding wage judgment (a court order requiring the employer to pay employees), and the judgment remains unpaid after 180 days, the employer faces enhanced penalties.
What the Law Provides
Employers with unpaid wage judgments may face penalties of up to three times the original judgment amount if the judgment is not satisfied within 180 days of the judgment date. This significantly increases the financial consequences of non-compliance with wage orders.
What This Means
This law creates strong incentive for employers to:
- Comply with wage and hour requirements to avoid judgments entirely
- Satisfy judgments promptly if one is issued
- Maintain adequate financial records and controls to prevent wage violations
- Promptly address any wage claims or litigation
What Employers Need to Do: Compliance Checklist
To address these new laws, employers may consider the following compliance steps:
Immediate Actions
- Distribute the Know Your Rights notice to all employees (SB 294). This was due February 1, 2026, not March 30, and it repeats annually
- Offer the emergency contact designation (SB 294). This one was due March 30, 2026, and naming a contact is the employee's choice
- Audit all employment agreements for stay-or-pay language (AB 692)
- Remove or revise repayment clauses from offer letters and contracts
- Review wage and hour compliance to prevent judgment liability (SB 261)
Ongoing Actions
- Decide whether the business maintains education or training records at all. SB 513 does not require creating them; it sets what they must contain if they exist
- Where such records are kept, confirm each carries all five data points Lab. Code § 1198.5 requires
- Answer written inspection requests within 30 calendar days, and retain personnel records three years past termination
- For rideshare platforms: Prepare for potential driver unionization efforts (AB 1340)
- Conduct periodic audits of policies for compliance with all new requirements
How These Laws Connect: A Pattern of Worker Protections
These new laws work together to create a more transparent, fair, and protected workplace environment. Know Your Rights notices ensure workers understand protections. Stay-or-pay restrictions prevent economic coercion. Training record access promotes transparency. Wage judgment enforcement discourages violations. Together, they raise the floor for how employers must treat workers.
For employers, the pattern is clear: invest in compliance systems, transparency, and fair treatment to avoid legal disputes. For employees, these laws provide new avenues to understand rights and access information about their own employment history and protections.
How Mediation Can Help with Disputes Arising from New Requirements
As employers implement these new laws and employees exercise newly protected rights, disputes can arise. Whether the issue involves disagreement over Know Your Rights notices, training record requests, or other implementation questions, mediation offers a path to resolution.
Mediation allows employers and employees to:
- Address implementation disagreements confidentially
- Reach mutually agreed solutions faster than formal complaints
- Preserve the working relationship when possible
- Resolve disputes about proper compliance with new requirements
Early mediation of disputes related to these new workplace law requirements can prevent costly litigation and help both parties understand obligations and rights.
Looking Forward: 2026 and Beyond
California's 2026 workplace law changes reflect the state's ongoing evolution toward stronger worker protections and clearer employer obligations. The bills discussed, addressing notification rights, training cost restrictions, collective bargaining for gig workers, training record transparency, and wage judgment enforcement, each address specific areas where workers previously had less protection.
Employers who proactively implement these requirements, audit their practices, and establish clear policies will minimize compliance risks. Employees who understand their expanded rights under these new laws can better advocate for themselves and recognize when their rights are protected.
For both groups, awareness, clear communication, and good-faith effort to comply with and respect these requirements will create a more balanced and fair workplace environment.