2025 New Laws

Recruiting and Hiring

• California law now prohibits employers from listing a driver’s license as a preferred qualification for job candidates unless certain conditions are met.See Advertising the Job.
• A court found that the technology used to provide an arbitration agreement substantially impacted the fairness of the agreement. See Offering Employment.
• A court found that an arbitration agreement containing several one-way provisions was sufficiently unfair and could be voided. See Offering Employment.

Exempt and Nonexempt

• The minimum salary requirement for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions increased for 2025. Additionally, the statewide minimum wage increased for fast food workers and health care workers, See Determining Exempt or Nonexempt Employee Status.
• The Department of Labor recently published its final rule increasing the federal salary threshold for white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). However, a federal district court vacated the rule, See Determining Exempt or Nonexempt Employee Status.
• The minimum wage rates for the licensed physicians or surgeons exemption increased for 2025. See Professional Exemption.
• The minimum wage rates for the computer professional exemption increased for 2025. See Computer Professional Exemption.
• The minimum earnings requirement for the inside salesperson exemption changed due to the higher 2025 state minimum wage. See Commissioned Inside Sales Employee Exemption.

Verifying Eligibility to Work

• The current version of Form I-9 - Employment Eligibility Verification is revision number 08/01/23, with an expiration date of 5/31/27. See Completing the Form I-9.
• The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ‘(USCIS) updated fee schedule went into effect on April 1, 2024, at which point the H-1B Registration Process Fee increased from $10 per beneficiary to $215 per beneficiary. See The H-1B Visa.

Types of Workers

• The California Supreme Court concluded that Proposition 22 is constitutional. See Independent Contractor.
• The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) adopted a new independent contractor rule for purposes of the federal FLSA. See Independent Contractor.
• California’s Freelance Worker Protection Act imposes certain requirements on employers that hire "freelance workers.” See Independent Contractor.

Employing Minors

• Employers that opt to voluntarily undertake a “social compliance audit” will be required to post a clear and conspicuous link on their website to a report detailing the audit’s findings regarding the employer’s compliance with child labor laws. See Penalties for Incorrectly Employing a Minor.

Personnel Records and Privacy

• “Neural data” is now included as “sensitive personal information” under the California Privacy Rights Act. See CPRA Coverage.

Wage and Hour Law

• The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) was reformed in several aspects. See Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Claims.
• The California Supreme Court declined to extend the class action manageability considerations to PAGA claims. See Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Claims.
• A notable amendment to PAGA’s reform is to its penalty provisions. See Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Claims.

Wages, Salaries and Other Compensation

• Stock options are not “wages” within the meaning of the Labor Code, even when given as part of an individual’s compensation package. See Wage and Hour Law: Definitions of Terms.
• California’s minimum wage is now $16.50 per hour for all employers, regardless of size, with the exception of certain fast-food restaurants and health care facilities. See See Minimum Wage.
• The Social Security wage base limit increased for 2025. See Standard Deductions: Taxes.
• The meal and lodging credits employers may take against minimum wage increased when the new minimum wage became effective on January 1, 2025. See Meals and Lodging.
• The minimum wage rate on certain federal contracts increased. See Wage and Hour Requirements for Specific Industries.
• Port drayage motor carriers were added to the list of specific industries covered by Labor Code section 2810. See Wage and Hour Requirements for Specific Industries.
• Beginning in 2024, California created new standards for the fast food industry. See Minimum Wage.
A new law began raising the minimum wage for covered health care facility workers. See Minimum Wage.

Hours of Work and Recording Time Worked

• The California Supreme Court recently added more nuance to the travel time analysis, answering a question certified from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. See Travel Time.
• The California Supreme Court found that employees waiting in their personal vehicles while undergoing a mandatory security check before leaving the employer’s premises were under sufficient employer control and should be compensated for the time as “hours worked.” See Security Screenings.
• The California Supreme Court recently held that an employee covered by Wage Order 16 and a valid collective bargaining agreement that satisfies certain exceptions must still be paid for their meal break time when the employer maintains control over the employee during the meal period. See Meal and Rest Break Exceptions.

Overtime

• Agricultural employers under Wage Order 14 have been subject to phased in overtime changes over recent years depending on the employer size. Effective January 1, 2025, the scheduled changes are complete, See Overtime Exceptions for Specific Industries.

State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave

• The weekly State Disability Insurance benefit amount increased from previous years, ranging from between approximately 70 to 90 percent (up from 60 to 70 percent) of the wages the employee earned in the highest quarter of the base period, See State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave.
• A new law prohibits employers from requiring employees to use up to two weeks of vacation when they apply for Paid Family Leave (PFL). See Paid Family Leave Defined.
• The weekly PFL benefit amount increased, ranging from approximately 70 to 90 percent (increased from 60 to 70 percent) of the wages the employee earned in the highest quarter of the base period. See Paid Family Leave Benefit Payments.

Health and Retirement Benefits

• Minimum annual deductibles for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) for those who have high-deductible health plans (HDHP) are set for 2025. See Health Savings Accounts.
• For 2025, if you have self-only HDHP coverage, you can contribute up to $4,300. If you have family HDHP coverage, you can contribute up to $8,550. See Health Savings Accounts.

Family and Medical Leave

• The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) has a small employer mediation program applicable to employers with between five and 19 employees involved in a dispute involving a violation of the California Family Rights Act or California’s bereavement leave law. Effective January 1, 2025, the program will also apply to disputes related to California’s reproductive loss leave. See Penalties for Violating Family and Medical Leave Laws.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that took effect June 18, 2024. See Federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Paid Sick Leave

• California’s Paid Sick Leave (PSL) law was revised to expressly state that PSL may be used by agricultural employees who work outside to avoid smoke, heat or flooding conditions created by a local or state emergency, including when the employees’ worksites are closed due to smoke, heat or flooding. See Permissible Usage.

Miscellaneous Time Off

• Effective January 1, 2025, California revised and expanded its leave requirements for victims, both broadening the definition of “victim” under the law and expanding the reasons for which this leave may be taken. See Victims’ Leave and Accommodation.
• Employers with 25 or more employees must provide leave to victims for various purposes. Effective January 1, 2025, these requirements were expanded See Time Off for Medical Treatment: Employers With 25 or More Employees.
• All employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who is a victim of a qualifying act of violence who requests an accommodation for their safety while working. Additionally, effective January 1, 2025, the law was expanded so that employers must also provide accommodations for an employee whose family member is a victim of qualifying act of violence. See Accommodating a Victim.
• California expanded its victim’s leave and accommodation laws, including its notice requirements. See Required Notice.

Ensuring Workplace Safety

• California enacted general industry workplace violence safety applicable to nearly all California employers and is under the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) jurisdiction. Since July 1, 2024, covered employers have several workplace violence prevention obligations. See Workplace Violence Prevention Standards for General Industry.
• California’s general industry workplace violence prevention requirements, effective July 1, 2024, apply to nearly all California employers and are enforced by Cal/OSHA. See Workplace Violence Prevention Standards for General Industry.
• California now recognizes four separate categories of workplace violence, which are largely drawn from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) definitions. See Defining Workplace Violence Under the Law.
• Effective January 1, 2025, employers may seek a restraining order on behalf of an employee who has suffered “harassment.” Also effective January 1, 2025, an employee may remain anonymous on the restraining order petition for their safety. See Responding to Workplace Violence.
• Cal/OSHA regulations contain separate standards that address heat illness prevention for outdoor and, effective July 23, 2024, indoor settings. See Heat Illness Prevention Overview: Outdoor and Indoor Standards.
• Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat illness prevention standard, effective July 23, 2024, applies to “all indoor work areas where the temperature equals or exceeds 82°F when employees are present. See Scope and Application: Outdoor Workplace vs. Indoor Workplace.

Workers’ Compensation

• Temporary disability payments for 2025 are increasing from 2024; the new maximum weekly payment is $1,680.29, while the minimum is now $252.03. See Benefits During Workers’ CompensationS.
• Agricultural employees who work outside are now allowed to use paid sick days to avoid smoke, heat or flooding conditions created by a local or state emergency. See Benefits During Workers’ CompensationS.
• A bill passed in 2023 extended the presumption of psychiatric injury, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), that exists for firefighters and first responders who allege that they’ve suffered PTSD in connection with their work from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2029. See Stress-Related Injuries Overview.

Employment Discrimination

• The FEHA was revised to clarify that it prohibits discrimination not only based on individual protected characteristics, but also on any combination of protected characteristics — a concept often referred to as intersectionality. See Protected Classes Overview.
• A court rewarded a terminated employee with nearly $2.5 million in damages, attorneys’ fees and litigation costs at trial, largely due to her supervisor’s repeated age-related comments. See Types of Discrimination.
• California law now prohibits employers from listing a driver’s license as a preferred qualification for job candidates unless certain conditions are met. See National Origin Discrimination.
• Effective January 1, 2025, employers have new restrictions on their speech regarding political and religious matters. See Political Activity and Discrimination Protection.
• The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision holding that a lateral job transfer can be discriminatory under Title VII when the transfer brought some harm to the employee. See Unequal (Disparate) Treatment.

Harassment

• The California Legislature specifically affirmed a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision recognizing that when an individual alleges discrimination based on multiple protected characteristics, it may be necessary to determine whether discrimination occurred based on the combination of characteristics instead of in isolation. See Harassment Defined.
• Two recent court cases resulted in employer liability for hostile work environment claims. See Hostile Environment Harassment.

Layoffs and Plant Closings

• Effective January 1, 2025, certain grocery and pharmacy establishments that close and cease operations must provide closure notices to their employees and other parties. See Displaced Worker.

Labor Relations in Private Employment

• The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) joint-employer analysis has significant implications for employers, as it determines when one entity jointly employs another firm’s workers. However, the NLRB’s joint-employer rule appears headed for a long course of litigation before any possible enforcement. See Covered Employers.
• Remedies for serious and widespread unfair labor practices have become far more expansive under the Biden administration. See Unfair Labor Practices of Employers.
• In September 2024, the Board rejected the General Counsel’s argument to change the precedent in Velox Express. See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• In May 2024, the Board affirmed an Administrative Law Judge’s decision that an employer violated the Act by failing to respond for 56 days or to provide responsive information for 90 days when the union requested employees’ schedules, hours worked, and unscheduled closing dates and times. See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• The NLRB ruled that an employer violated federal law when it directed an employee to remove the hand-drawn acronym for Black Lives Matter — “BLM” — from their work apron to comply with the company’s dress code. See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated an NLRB decision imposting stricter scrutiny on employer actions taken in response to employee outbursts and misconduct, remanded it, and directed the Board to rule on the case under a different framework See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• Under the new Cemex framework for elections, it’s important that employers take steps to prepare to respond quickly and effectively should they receive a request for voluntary union recognition. See Representation and Election Process Overview.
• The NLRB ruled an employer violated federal law when it directed an employee to remove the hand-drawn acronym for Black Lives Matter. See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine of judicial deference to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutory language. See The 2024 Loper Bright Reversal of Chevron Deference.