In a recent press release, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced that Senate Bill (SB) 294 enacted Labor Code sections 1550-1559, also known as the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The Act requires that an employer provide an annual notice to their employees regarding certain workplace rights, including the right to have their employer notify a designated emergency contact if an employee is arrested or detained at work.
Annual Workplace Rights Notice
On or before February 1, 2026, and each year after that, an employer must provide employees a required workplace rights notice. The Labor Commissioner has posted model notices on its website that an employer can use, including versions in English and Spanish. Versions in Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi will soon be posted. An employer must provide the notice in the language usually used to communicate employment-related information to the employee and which the employee understands, if the language is available as a template notice provided by the Labor Commissioner. The annual notice to employees must include seven categories of information spelled out in the statute, which include information about workers’ compensation, the right to notice of an I-9 inspection by immigration agencies, protection against unfair immigration-related practices, constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement in the workplace, labor organizing rights, a description of new laws affecting workplace rights, and a list of the enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice. By July 1, 2026, the Labor Commissioner also will post a video for employees advising them of their rights and a video for employers advising them of their rights and requirements. All postings will be on the Labor Commissioner’s Office website. An employer who violates the notice requirement shall be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per employee.
Notifying a Designated Emergency Contact of an Employee’s Arrest or Detention
SB 294 requires that, if an employee has asked an employer to notify a designated emergency contact, an employer must notify the designated contact if the employee is arrested or detained on the worksite or, when an employer has actual knowledge, if the employee is arrested or detained during work hours but not on the worksite. Therefore, starting January 1, 2026, an employer must notify an emergency contact in the event of an arrest or detention as described above. By March 30, 2026, an employer must provide employees the opportunity to name emergency contacts and to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained. An employer who violates the requirements to notify a designated emergency contact shall be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per day per employee, with a maximum penalty of $10,000 per employee.