California Governor Signs Array of Employment Bills, Vetoes Menopause Protected Category Bill

AB 1331
Workplace Surveillance in Private AreasProhibits employers from using surveillance tools in workplace bathrooms or requiring employees to wear tracking devices while in those areas, with limited exceptions for safety cameras and court orders. Civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 1697
“Stay or Pay” Effective Date FixPushes back the 2025 Anti-Trap Act’s restrictions on stay or pay repayment clauses so they apply to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2027, rather than January 1, 2026. Expands the new hire bonus exception to include post-hire bonuses, and adds new exceptions for grant funded programs, securities or insurance producer agreements, and advanced paid time off benefits. Carries an urgency clause.Signed 9/30/26
Effective immediatelyAB 1803
Anti-Hate Speech TrainingAdds an anti-hate speech component to California’s mandatory harassment prevention training beginning in 2028, requiring practical guidance on recognizing, reporting, and confronting workplace speech that vilifies or incites hatred based on a characteristic protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The bill does not define hate speech.Signed 9/27/26
Effective 1/1/28AB 1838
Public Works: Disclosure of Wage and Hour ViolationsRequires a contractor, as a condition of submitting a bid to a local agency for a public works contract, to fully disclose any history of wage and hour violations from the prior five years and provide supporting documentation. A contractor that fails to provide the required disclosures may be disqualified from the bid, and local agencies must establish a disqualification appeal process. Exempts contracts covered by a project labor agreement and projects with a separate prequalification requirement.Signed 9/27/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 1883
Workplace Surveillance Tools (Neural Data and Emotional State)Bars employers from using AI-driven surveillance tools that incorporate facial, gait, or emotion recognition, or that collect neural data, and from using surveillance to infer protected characteristics. Enforced by the labor commissioner, with a private right of action.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 1940
Menopause as a Protected Category (VETOED)Would have added perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause, and related conditions to FEHA’s definition of sex and medical condition.VETOED 9/30/26AB 1961
Workplace Violence Restraining Orders for Groups of EmployeesLets an employer seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of all employees at a location, without naming an individual employee as the protected party, where violence or a credible threat is directed at the workplace generally.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 2150
Opioid Overdose Reversal TrainingRequires any employer that mandates CPR certification training for its employees to also require those employees to complete a separate online video module on naloxone administration, approved by the Emergency Medical Services Authority, to increase opioid overdose reversal rates.Signed 9/20/26
Effective 1/1/27
(Ch. 384, Stats. 2026)AB 2155
Arbitration Agreements Aligned to FAA Carve-OutsMakes a California arbitration agreement unenforceable to the same extent it would be unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), importing FAA carve-outs such as the interstate transportation worker exemption into state law.Signed 6/30/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 2227
Farm Labor Contractor Bonds and LicensingDoubles required surety bond amounts for farm labor contractor licensure onto a gross receipts-based scale, with bonds of up to $150,000 for larger contractors, and enhances labor commissioner fines of up to $50,000 for farm labor contractor violations.Signed 9/18/26
(Ch. 294, Stats. 2026)AB 2495
Unlawful Immigration Related RetaliationExpands the prohibition on unfair immigration-related retaliation. Makes it unlawful to engage in conduct tied to a worker’s actual or perceived immigration status that would reasonably dissuade them from exercising a legal workplace right. Covers applicants and former employees. Civil penalty of up to $10,000 per person per violation, payable to the person harmed.Signed 9/29/26
(Ch. 748, Stats. 2026)
Effective 1/1/27AB 2563
Sex Discrimination Definition HarmonizationEstablishes a uniform definition of sex discrimination across California codes, confirming it includes discrimination based on nonconformity with sex or gender stereotypes. A trigger provision that would have added menopause to the definition did not activate because AB 1940 was vetoed.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27AB 2646
Agricultural Minimum WageSets a new minimum hourly wage of $19.75 for approved agricultural employees (largely H-2A workers) and corresponding employees performing similar work, adjusting annually by the Social Security cost of living adjustment starting January 1, 2027.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27SB 947
Automated Decision Systems (“No Robo Bosses Act”)Prohibits using an automated decision system (ADS) as the sole basis for discipline or termination without independent human corroboration. Primary reliance on an ADS requires human review and a post-use notice, and the bill bars using an ADS to infer protected characteristics or to retaliate. Successor to SB 7, which was vetoed in 2025.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27
(ADS restrictions operative 7/1/27)SB 951
AI and Technological Displacement WARN NoticeAmends the Cal/WARN Act, rather than creating a standalone act as originally proposed. When a covered mass layoff, relocation, or termination is caused substantially by AI or automation, the existing 60-day WARN notice must flag the technology displacement and identify affected job functions and the AI system involved.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27SB 1149
Bereavement Leave for a Designated PersonExpands existing bereavement leave (up to five days unpaid, job protected) to allow an employee to designate one person per 12-month period as a covered relation, beyond the current immediate family member definition.Signed 9/27/26
Effective 1/1/27SB 1237
Pay Data Reporting PenaltiesRaises the civil penalty for an employer’s subsequent failure to file a required pay data report with the Civil Rights Department from up to $200 per employee to up to $1,000 per employee. The first failure to file penalty remains up to $100 per employee.Signed 9/30/26
Effective 1/1/27SB 1316
Labor Commissioner Liens and EvidenceLets the labor commissioner renew a wage judgment lien on an employer’s real property for additional 10-year periods, and bars an employer from using payroll or time records in a retaliation or discrimination hearing if those records were not timely produced when requested.Signed 8/27/26
Effective 1/1/27