“Workplace Know Your Rights” Notice Requirement for California Employers Goes into Effect February 1, 2026

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines:

• S.B. 294 requires California employers to provide a “Workplace Know Your Rights” Notice to employees by February 1, 2026.
• Employers are required to retain written records of compliance with the Notice requirement for three (3) years, including a record of the date each written Notice is provided to employees.
• S.B. 294 also requires employers to permit employees to update their emergency contact information by March 30, 2026.

Workplace Know Your Rights Notice: February 1, 2026

By February 1, 2026, employers in California are required, pursuant to S.B. 294, to provide a “Workplace Know Your Rights” Notice (hereafter, the “Notice”) to each current employee containing information relating to workers’ rights as specified in the legislative mandate.  Thereafter, California employers must provide a Notice to employees and any exclusive collective bargaining representative annually on February 1, as well as to all new employees on the day of hire.

Notice may be carried out “in a manner the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information” to employees, which may include personal service, email, or text messages, so long as employees can reasonably be anticipated to receive the notice within one business day of sending.  Further, the Notice must be provided to employees in the language the employer usually uses to communicate employment-related information to the employee, or in English if the preferred language for communication is not available.

Employers may use a template Notice posted by the Labor Commissioner’s office (provided in English and Spanish) to satisfy the requirement.  The Labor Commissioner is also required to update the template Notice annually by January 1.  After sending the written Notice, California employers are required to keep records of compliance with the statute for three years, including a record of the date each written Notice is provided to employees.

As reflected in the Labor Commissioner’s template, the Notice must include descriptions of the following:

• Workers’ compensation benefits;
• The right to notice of inspection by immigration agencies;
• Protection against unfair immigration-related practices;
• The right to organize a union or engage in concerted activity in the workplace;
• Constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace;
• New legal developments pertaining to laws the Labor Commissioner deems material and necessary; and
• The enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice.

Updated Emergency Contact Requirement: March 30, 2026

S.B. 294 further requires that California employers must, by March 30, 2026, provide employees with the opportunity to identify an emergency contact.  As part of this process, employees may elect whether they would like the employer to notify their emergency contact if the employer knows that an employee has been arrested or detained on the employer’s worksite, during work hours, or during the performance of the employee’s job duties.

Employers in violation of the S.B. 294’s Notice requirements may be subject to civil penalties, enforceable by the Labor Commissioner’s office, of up to $500 per employee.  Violations of the emergency contact requirement may also result in a civil penalty of $500 per employee per day following March 30, 2026, up to a maximum of $10,000 per employee.