2026 New Laws

Recruiting and Hiring

• Effective October 1, 2025, the California Civil Rights Council revised FEHA regulations to address the use of automated decision systems (ADS), including artificial intelligence (AI), in employment practices. See Finding a Candidate.
• Recently revised FEHA regulations address the use of ADS and AI in job advertisements. See Advertising the Job.
• Effective January 1, 2026, for purposes of pay scale disclosure and posting rules, California revised the definition of pay scale to mean a “good faith estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire.” See Advertising the Job.
• Effective January 1, 2026, California law limits employers’ ability to offer certain benefits relating to repayment agreements if worker's employment or work relationship with an employer ends, commonly referred to as "stay or pay" agreements. See Offering Employment.
• The California Supreme Court recently relaxed the analysis for arbitration agreement breach and waiver. See Offering Employment.
• Effective January 1, 2026, a new law requires employers to provide their employees with the opportunity to designate an emergency contact and allow the employee to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite, or during working hours or the performance of their job duties while off the worksite. See New Employee Orientation.

Exempt and Nonexempt

• The minimum salary requirement for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions increased for 2026. See Determining Exempt or Nonexempt Employee Status.
• The minimum wage rates for the licensed physicians or surgeons exemption increased for 2026. See Professional Exemption.
• The minimum wage rates for the computer professional exemption increased for 2026. See Computer Professional Exemption.
• The minimum earnings requirement for the inside salesperson exemption changed due to the higher 2026 state minimum wage. See Commissioned Inside Sales Employee Exemption.

Types of Workers

• Effective July 1, 2027, “foreign labor contractor” will be expanded include farm labor contractors recruiting agricultural workers under the federal H-2A visa program. See Non-Direct Hire.
• Effective January 1, 2026, California law provides covered rideshare drivers the right to unionize under the jurisdiction of the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). See Independent Contractor.
• The U.S. Department of Labor issued a field assistance bulletin stating it intends not to enforce its 2024 independent contractor rule while the agency reconsiders it. See Independent Contractor.

Personnel Records and Privacy

• Effective January 1, 2026, California requires employers to include certain, specific information in their education and training records. See Access to Personnel File.

Wage and Hour Law

• The California Supreme Court issued an opinion clarifying, as part of a good-faith defense to avoid liquidated damages for failure to pay wages, that employers must show that they made a reasonable attempt to determine the requirements of the law governing minimum wages. See Wage and Hour Enforcement and Penalties.
• A court recently affirmed the dismissal of a “headless” Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) case — where a plaintiff only has a representative claim instead of an individual and representative claim — because the plaintiff filed their individual claim outside the one-year statute of limitations. See Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Claims.

Wages, Salaries and Other Compensation

• California’s minimum wage is now $16.90 per hour for all employers, regardless of size, with the exception of certain fast-food restaurants and health care facilities. See Minimum Wage.
• In a recent court case, the Ninth Circuit reviewed and upheld an employer's piece-rate compensation plan. The employer paid their truck driver employees minimum wage for all hours worked. See Piece Rate Pay.
• The Social Security wage base limit increased for 2026. 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, 2026. See Meals and Lodging.
• Effective January 1, 2026, California law clarifies that, with respect to the construction trucking industry, a commercial motor vehicle driver who owns the truck, tractor, trailer, or other commercial vehicle that they use in the course and scope of their employment is entitled to reimbursement for the use, upkeep, and depreciation of that truck, tractor, trailer, or other commercial vehicle. See Expense Reimbursement.
• President Trump issued an executive order that included revoking Executive Order 14026 on minimum wage for federal contractors. See Wage and Hour Requirements for Specific Industries.

Hours of Work and Recording Time Worked

• A recent case concluded that nonexempt employees’ written prospective or “blanket” meal period waivers for work shifts between five and six hours were valid and enforceable in the absence of any evidence that the waivers were coercive or unconscionable. See Meal Break.
• Effective January 1, 2026, California revised a narrow exception for safety sensitive positions at petroleum facilities, expanding the exception to other fuel refineries and making the exception, which was set to expire at the end of 2025, permanent. See Meal and Rest Break Exceptions.

State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave

• Effective July 1, 2028, eligibility for PFL benefits will be expanded to include individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill designated person, legally defined as “any care recipient related by blood or whose association with the individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.” See Paid Family Leave Defined.

Health and Retirement Benefits

• Minimum annual deductibles for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) for those who have high-deductible health plans (HDHP) are set for 2026. See Health Savings Accounts.
• For 2026, if you have self-only HDHP coverage, you can contribute up to $4,400. If you have family HDHP coverage, you can contribute up to $8,750. See Health Savings Accounts.

Paid Sick Leave

• Effective October 1, 2025, California revised PSL as it relates to California's leave for victims, expanding the reasons for which employees may use PSL to include leave for certain judicial proceedings, jury duty and serving as a witness. See Permissible Usage.
• A recent court decision clarified that when a statute uses the term “exempt employees,” it means all employees exempt from overtime requirements under any California exemption. See Paying the Employee for the Sick Day.

Miscellaneous Time Off

• Effective October 1, 2025, California revised its victims' leave provisions again, moving the remaining victims' leave provisions in Labor Code sections 230.2 and 230.5 to Government Code section 12945.8 where they join the other victims' leave provisions under the FEHA and enforced by the CRD. See Victims’ Leave and Accommodation.
• Also, effective October 1, 2025, California made related changes to its PSL law, giving employees the right to use PSL for victims' leave and jury and witness duty. For more information see Permissible Usage.

Workers’ Compensation

• A presumption of psychiatric injury, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), exists for firefighters and first responders who allege that they’ve suffered PTSD in connection with their work. As of January 1, 2026 this presumption also extends to active firefighters who work at commercial airports. See Stress-Related Injuries Overview.
• Temporary disability payments for 2026 are increasing from 2025. See Benefits During Workers’ Compensation.

Employment Discrimination

• Effective January 1, 2026, new FEHA provisions state that an employee's assessment, testing, admission or acknowledgment of their own personal bias — made in good faith or as part of a bias mitigation training — does not constitute unlawful discrimination. See FEHA - California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.
• The California Civil Rights Council, which creates regulations implementing California's civil rights laws, revised the FEHA regulations to address the use of automated decision systems (ADS), including artificial intelligence (AI), in employment practices, See FEHA - California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Age Discrimination.
• Effective October 1, 2025, FEHA regulations state that the national origin discrimination prohibitions related to language restrictions, accents, language proficiency requirements, height and/or weight requirements, driver's licenses and unlawful immigration practices also apply where the discrimination is based on the employer's use of an automated decision system or selection criteria, See National Origin Discrimination.
• The Ninth Circuit concluded that a religious employer’s customer service representatives (CSR) perform key religious functions and fall, therefore, under the ministerial exemption. See "Exemptions for the Religious Corporations and Associations" in Religion.
• Effective January 1, 2026, the Equal Pay law was revised to expand the statute of limitations to three years whereas it was previously two years. Also effective January 1, 2026, California expanded the definition of “wages” for purposes of Equal Pay Act. See Wage Equality - Equal Pay Act.
• A federal district court recently enjoined enforcement of a California law that took effect on January 1, 2025, placing certain restrictions on employers’ speech regarding political and religious matters. See Political Activity and Discrimination Protection.
• Effective January 1, 2026, the law requires that any demographic information collected by an employer or labor contractor for pay data reporting purposes must be stored separately from employees' personnel records. See EEO Reporting Requirements.
• On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump revoked Executive Order 11246, which removed some longstanding affirmative action obligations for covered federal contractors. See Affirmative Action Reporting.

Harassment

• A recent court case found that an employee does not need to directly experience harassing conduct if the conduct becomes known and negatively alters the employee’s work environment. See Hostile Environment Harassment.

Disabilities in the Workplace

• A recent Ninth Circuit case provides a good example of how deliberate, detailed and thorough employers must be in exploring reasonable accommodations and making undue hardship determinations. See Undue Hardship.

Layoffs and Plant Closings

• California extended the COVID-19 right to recall, set to expire at the end of 2025, another year. It applies until January 1, 2027. See Rights of Workers Displaced by COVID-19.
• Effective January 1, 2026, California expanded its WARN notice content requirements. See WARN Act Notice Content and Recipients.

Labor Relations in Private Employment

• A federal court issued a preliminary injunction preventing the enforcement of major provisions of a new California law expanding the California Public Employment Relations Board's jurisdiction to enforce labor laws with respect to private-sector employees, on the grounds that the law is preempted by the federal National Labor Relations Act, which grants the National Labor Relations Board exclusive jurisdiction over private sector labor relations. See Jurisdictional Standards.
• On October 21, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed the Board's new remedial framework, including the Board's ability to order employers to compensate employees for “direct or foreseeable” harms so long as it is equitable and would restore the situation as nearly as possible to what it would have been obtained absent the unlawful conduct taking place. See Excluded Employees.
• In General Counsel Memorandum 25-05, Acting General Counsel Cowan rescinded several General Counsel Memoranda urging Regions to include specific remedies in settlement agreements and complaints. See Protected Concerted Activity in Union and Non-Union Workplaces Overview.
• Acting General Counsel Cowan issued a General Counsel Memorandum urging Regions to consider whether unfair labor practice charges are subject to deferral, regardless of whether a grievance has been filed. See Employee Handbook and Employment Policies.
• Acting General Counsel Cowan rescinded numerous General Counsel memoranda, including those with guidance on employee handbook rules. See Overly Broad Confidentiality Provisions.
• Under recent case law, unions may have less leeway in using trademarked imagery to adapt employers’ brands for their own merchandising. See Policies Against Union Insignia.
• Upon assuming office in 2025, President Trump removed Board member Gwynne Wilcox. Member Wilcox's removal was the first of its kind, with President Trump explaining she was dismissed over a lack of “confidence” in her ability to execute his administration's objectives. See The 2024 Loper Bright Reversal of Chevron Deference.