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As we advised in our year-end alert, California Senate Bill 294, the "Workplace Know Your Rights Act," required the California Labor Commissioner to issue a new statewide rights notice for employees by January 1, 2026. That notice has now been published in English and Spanish. An employer must provide the notice in the language usually used to communicate employment-related information to the employee and which the employee understands, if the language is available as a template notice provided by the Labor Commissioner.
The Labor Commissioner advises that versions in Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi will be posted soon.
The Notice summarizes key employee rights, including workers' compensation benefits, rights to immigration inspection notices and protection against unfair immigration-related practices, union organizing and concerted activities, and constitutional rights during interactions with law enforcement at the workplace. It also provides list of enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice.
The Labor Commissioner will update the notice yearly and will publish educational videos on its website by July 1, 2026.
As a reminder, California employers must:
- Post and distribute the new notice by February 1, 2026.
- Permit designation of a specific emergency contact for arrests or detentions at work or while on duty by March 30, 2026.
Violations may incur penalties of up to $500 per employee, or up to $10,000 per employee for ongoing emergency contact violations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
