1. Labor Commissioner's Office

New Labor Laws in California

LCO Letter to All Employers - New Laws 2026

NEW: Workplace Know Your Rights Notice (SB 294)

Senate Bill (SB) 294 enacted Labor Code sections 1550-1559, also known as the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The Act requires that an employer provide an annual notice to their employees regarding certain workplace rights, including the right to have their employer notify a designated emergency contact if an employee is arrested or detained at work.

The Labor Commissioner has developed a notice template that complies with the law and can be used by employers. The notice will be updated annually. The notice currently is available in English and Spanish, and soon will be available in additional languages.

There are two primary components of the Workplace Know Your Rights Act:

Annual Workplace Know Your Rights Notice

All California employers must provide all employees a notice of their workplace rights by February 1, 2026 and every year after that.  

The annual notice to employees must include seven categories, including information about: 

• the right to notice of an I-9 inspection by immigration agencies; 
• protection against unfair immigration-related practices; 
• constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement in the workplace; 
• labor organizing rights; 
• workers’ compensation; 
• a description of new laws affecting workplace rights as determined by the Labor Commissioner; and 
• and a list of the enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice.   

An employer must provide the notice to employees in a language the employer normally uses with the employees when discussing business, which should be a language employees understand. 

Contacting a Designated Emergency Contact if an Employee is Detained or Arrested

If an employee has asked an employer to notify a designated emergency contact, an employer must notify the designated contact if the employee is arrested or detained on the worksite or, when an employer has actual knowledge, if the employee is arrested or detained during work hours but not on the worksite. Therefore, starting January 1, 2026, an employer must notify an employee’s emergency contact in the event of an arrest or detention.   
  
By March 30, 2026, an employer must provide employees the opportunity to name emergency contacts and to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained.   

Labor Commissioner – SB 294 Notice Template

California Workplace - Know Your Rights

The Labor Commissioner’s Office provides information and resources for workers and employers on new laws in California. The materials below explain new labor laws that apply to many workplaces in California.

The Garment Worker Protection Act
Warehouse Quotas
Recall Rights
Minimum Wage
Overtime for Agriculture Workers
Questions
What’s New

The Garment Worker Protection Act (Senate Bill 62)

Visit the Labor Commissioner’s portal of information on garment work in California
Frequently Asked Questions on the Garment Worker Protection Act (SB62)

Warehouse Quotas (Assembly Bill 701)

Assembly Bill 701 went into effect on January 1, 2022. Warehouse workers in California now have protections from quotas that violate labor laws. Employers must also provide information on quotas that employees have to meet while working.

Frequently Asked Questions on Assembly Bill 701

Recall Rights (SB 93)

Employees of certain hospitality and service industry employers who were laid off for COVID-19 related reasons must be notified of job openings for the same or similar positions as the ones they last held. They must be offered available jobs, with priority based on length of service, before new employees can be hired.

Frequently Asked Questions on Recall Rights
Flyer on Recall Rights (English)       Folleto sobre el derecho a regresar (Spanish)  

Minimum Wage $15.00/hour Phase in from 2017-2023 (Senate Bill 3)

Starting January 1, 2023, the minimum wage is $15.50/hour for all employers in California.

Some cities and counties have higher minimum wages than the state’s rate. There is a list of City and County minimum wages in California maintained by UC Berkeley.

In 2017, Senate Bill 3 started a phase in of requirements to raise California’s minimum wage to $15.00 an hour. The increase in minimum wage was different for large employers (26 or more employees) and small employers (25 or fewer employees).

If a local entity (city or county) has adopted a higher minimum wage, employees must be paid the local wage where it is higher than the state or federal minimum wage rates.

Overtime for Agriculture Workers (Assembly Bill 1066)

In 2016, Assembly Bill 1066 created a timetable for agricultural workers to receive overtime pay so that they will gradually receive overtime pay on the same basis as workers in most other industries (after 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week).

Starting January 1, 2023 employers with 25 or fewer employees must pay agriculture workers overtime after 9 hours per day or 50 hours per week. For large employers with 26 or more employees since January 1, 2022, must pay agriculture workers overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.

Information on Overtime Pay for Agriculture Workers
Frequently Asked Questions on Assembly Bill 1066

What's

New

• Labor Commissioner Revokes Garment Manufacturer’s License for Labor Law Violations and Informs Employers of New Law for 2022
• California’s Minimum Wage to Increase to $15 per Hour for Large Employers, $14 per Hour for Small Employers
• California Labor Commissioner Launches Online Wage Claim Application

January 2023