Upcoming Deadline to Designate Emergency Contact Under California Workplace Know Your Rights Act

As summarized in prior legal updates, California Senate Bill 294 created the Workplace Know Your Rights Act (the “Act”), which added Sections 1550 through 1559 to the Labor Code. The Act has two major components.

The first component required employers to provide a stand-alone written notice to employees by February 1, 2026, setting forth specified workers’ rights. Going forward, employers must provide the notice to new employees upon hire and to all employees and their authorized representative annually. More information regarding these obligations, along with a template notice in multiple languages, is available by accessing in the prior legal updates or by going directly to the Labor Commissioner’s website.

The second part of the Act requires employers to provide existing employees with an opportunity to name a designated emergency contact and to allow employees to provide updated emergency contact information throughout their employment. Employers must do this on or before March 30, 2026, and must allow employees 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 contact, the employer must do so as soon as that contact has been identified, even if that is done before March 30, 2026.

The March 30, 2026 deadline is approaching. If employers have not already done so, they should prepare procedures for employees to designate emergency contacts and to indicate whether the contact should be notified in these instances, and should do so before the March 30, 2026 deadline.

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.