California Labor Commissioner Publishes Template Workplace Know Your Rights Act Notice to be Provided to Employees by February 1, 2026

As summarized in a prior legal update, Governor Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 294 this past year. Known as the Workplace Know Your Rights Act (the “Act”), the bill adds Sections 1550 through 1559 to the Labor Code.

Among other things, this law requires employers to provide a stand-alone written notice to employees setting forth specified workers’ rights, including: (1) the right to workers’ compensation benefits, including disability pay and medical care for work-related injuries or illness, as well as the contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation; (2) the right to notice of inspection by immigration agencies pursuant to subdivision (a) of Labor Code section 90.2; (3) protection against unfair immigration-related practices against a person exercising protected rights; (4) the right to organize a union or engage in concerted activity in the workplace; and (5) constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, including an employee’s right under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to due process and against self-incrimination. The notice must also include a description of new legal developments pertaining to laws enforced by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and a list of the enforcement agencies that may enforce these rights.

The notice must be provided to current employees on or before February 1, 2026, to new employees upon hire, and to all employees and their authorized representative (“exclusive collective bargaining representative”) annually in the language the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information to the employee and which the employee understands if the template notice is available in that language on the Labor Commissioner’s website. If the template notice is not available in that language, then the written notice may be provided in English.

The bill required the Labor Commissioner to develop and post a template notice on or before January 1, 2026, with updated templates posted annually thereafter. The 2026 template is now available in both English and Spanish, with additional languages to be added in the future. The template can be located here in English and here in Spanish.

In addition to the written notice, employers may choose to provide a link to, or show, the video developed by the Labor Commissioner’s office. The Labor Commissioner has until July 1, 2026, to develop videos for both employees and employers.

Additional information regarding the law and the Labor Commissioner’s template notice can be located here.

Importantly, in addition to providing the notice upon hire, employers must provide it “to each current employee . . . in a manner the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information,” which “may include, but is not limited to, personal service, email, or text message, if it can reasonably be anticipated to be received by the employee within one business day of sending.” Employers are required to keep records of compliance with these requirements for three years, “including the date that each written notice is provided or sent.”

Parties to a collective bargaining agreement by provide that the agreement supersedes these requirements, in whole or in part, if the waiver is explicitly set forth in the collective bargaining agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.

In addition to the notice requirement, the law states that employers must provide existing employees with an opportunity to name a designated emergency contact on or before March 30, 2026, and to allow employees to provide updated emergency contact information throughout employment. The employer must allow the employee to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained while on the employer’s worksite and/or during work hours or the performance of the employee’s job duties, even if not on the worksite, if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention. If an employee has asked an employer to notify a designated emergency contact, the employer must do so as soon as that contact has been identified (even if that is done before March 30, 2026).

Finally, employers are prohibited from discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise their rights under the Act.

Employers who violate the Act may be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per employee for each violation, except that the penalty for a violation of the provisions relating to emergency contacts would be an amount up to $500 per employee for each day the violation occurs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per employee.

As these deadlines are quickly approaching, employers should take steps to ensure all employees are provided the Act’s notice on or before February 1, 2026, and are provided with an opportunity to designate an emergency contact and to inform them of arrests or detentions on or before March 30, 2026.

This legal update and any use of its information does not create an attorney-client relationship. Nothing contained on this website should be considered legal advice for any specific employer or employment situation. Consult legal counsel before taking any action as a result of information contained herein.