It’s another big year for employment labor law, and there are major shifts being made for organizations in California. The new laws and necessary employee handbook updates are enacted on January 1st, so let’s get to it.
Effective January 1, 2026
SB3: Minimum Wage Increase – The state of CA minimum wage goes up to $16.90 per hour effective January 1, 2026, which also impacts salaried and exempt employees going up to a minimum of $70,304 annually. **Check your local listings for any specific city or county ordinances for hourly increases, although the state minimum wage for salaried and exempt employees would still apply in these instances.
SB642: Pay Transparency Act – Equal Pay Act Update – The definition of “pay scale” has been amended to state an estimated range of salary for the position in good faith measures. Upon request from an applicant or employee upon request, employers must share the pay scale for a position and for certain employers, the scale must be included in job postings as to the reasonable expected pay for the position.
SB617: Cal-WARN Act – This act has expanded to include all CA employers who employ 75 or more employees within the past 12 months; must provide the Cal-WARN notice to impacted employees at least 60 days prior to action. New wording that needs to be included in the Cal-WARN notice includes: 1.) the company plans for coordinating services with any entity, 2.) a working email and phone number for the local workforce development department along with the rapid response program, and finally 3.) the CalFresh contact information including the website link, description of CalFresh and the CalFresh benefits helpline.
AB692: Stay or Pay – Restrictions on Retention Bonuses and Tuition Assistance – Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee or applicant to pay the employer, a training provider, or debt collector for a debt if the worker’s employment or work relationship ends. This applies to when an employer would generally be prohibited from paying a hiring/retention bonus or tuition-assistance payment that must be repaid if the employee does not remain employed for a specified period. Exceptions apply.
AB751: Rest Breaks – Certain safety sensitive positions may be restricted from leaving work premises for rest breaks based upon the position and responsibility of gauges and machinery.
Employee Handbook Edits
AB406: Paid Sick Leave – Expanded to include victims of certain crimes for employees and their family members for court judicial hearings. Employees may take available sick time, vacation time or personal time off for compensation. **This will require edits to the CFRA, PDL, sick leave, and jury duty policies.
SB513: Employee Personnel Records – Expands on the current obligation of employers requiring that employers also provide any education and training records relating to the employee. This in addition to the current requirement to provide current and former employees, (and representatives) the right to inspect and receive a copy of personnel records relating to the employee’s performance with any grievances concerning the employee, within 30 calendar days of a request.
Employers who maintain these records must document the following on the training record:
• The name of the employee.
• The name of the training provider.
• The duration and date of the training.
• The core competencies of a training, including skills in equipment or software.
- The resulting certification or qualification.
Ensure that any training records include the required information, and that personnel records include the listed training information, in case of compliance audits. **This will require associated edits to Personnel Records policies.
SB590: Paid Family Leave (PFL) – Policy should be edited to add “designated person” to expand and align with CFRA and PFL with the monetary benefit, and allow monetary benefit for taking time off work to care for a seriously ill designated person, who is like a family member. **This will require edits to the PFL, sick leave, and jury duty leave policies.
SB294: Employee Notices and Emergency Contacts – New onboarding documents to present to new hires with all state and federal notices on or before February 1, 2026. (The CA Labor Commissioner will post the new notice on their website for employers to start using.) This requirement will mandate new hires, all current employees to receive this document, and then give to all current employees annually. Employees must also be allowedto state an emergency contact on or before March 30th, in case of an emergency situation or detainment. **This will require adjustments to company-onboarding practices.
This list is not exhaustive, and compliance changes from state to state. If you need specific support for your state, please reach out directly to me, let’s make sure that your organization does not get left behind.