California SB 294, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, adds new sections to the Labor Code requiring every employer in the state to give each employee a standalone annual written notice of core workplace rights, starting February 1, 2026, and to let employees designate an emergency contact who must be called if the employee is arrested or detained on the job.1 The law backs both requirements with per-employee penalties.
What the Annual Notice Must Cover
The notice summarizes four categories of workplace rights:
- Workers’ compensation, including a summary of disability pay and medical care for work-related injuries or illnesses and contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
- Immigration protections, including the right to receive immigration inspection notices and protections against unfair immigration-related workplace practices.
- The right to organize and engage in concerted activity.
- Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights during law enforcement encounters at the workplace.
The notice also has to include any new legal developments under laws enforced by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as flagged by the Labor Commissioner, along with a list of the agencies that enforce each right. Because the Commissioner can add items over time, the template is expected to change from year to year.
SB 294 adds Part 5.6, beginning at Section 1550, to Division 2 of the Labor Code. The Labor Commissioner must publish a template notice on its website by January 1, 2026, so employers do not have to draft their own.
How and In What Language the Notice Must Be Delivered
The notice must be a standalone document, not a page inside a handbook or an onboarding packet. Employers deliver it through whatever channel they normally use for work-related communications: in person, by email, or by text.
Language follows the same rule. If the employer normally communicates with the employee in a language other than English, the notice must be provided in that language whenever the Labor Commissioner has posted a version in it. If no translation is available, English is permitted. Employers are not expected to translate the template themselves.
Emergency Contact Designation
By March 30, 2026, employers must give current employees the opportunity to designate an emergency contact. For anyone hired after that, the designation becomes part of onboarding.
The contact matters because of a specific trigger built into the law. If an employee is arrested or detained at the workplace, or arrested or detained off-site during work hours while performing job duties and the employer knows about it, the employer must notify that designated emergency contact.
Key Deadlines
- January 1, 2026: Labor Commissioner publishes the template notice.
- February 1, 2026: First annual written notice due to all current and new employees.
- March 30, 2026: Employers must allow current employees to designate an emergency contact.
- July 1, 2026: Labor Commissioner publishes educational videos about the act.
- Each year after: Updated notice goes out annually.
Penalties and Recordkeeping
Violating the notice requirement carries an administrative penalty of up to $500 per employee. The emergency contact requirements carry stiffer consequences, with ongoing violations reaching up to $10,000 per employee. Both figures are per employee, which scales the exposure quickly for larger workforces.
Employers must keep records showing when each notice was sent for at least three years, giving enforcement agencies an audit trail during investigations. The law also bars retaliation against any employee who exercises rights under the act, files a complaint, cooperates with an investigation, or assists in enforcement. An employee who reports a missing notice is protected from being fired or disciplined for raising it.
Not the Same as the 2023–2024 SB 294
California reuses bill numbers each session. A different SB 294 was introduced in 2023–2024 to require health plans to send certain denied mental health and substance use disorder claims for enrollees under age 26 to the state’s Independent Medical Review system within 24 hours. That bill was held in committee in August 2024 and did not become law. If you are researching Independent Medical Review, the governing law is still Health and Safety Code Sections 1374.30 through 1374.36. The Workplace Know Your Rights Act is a separate Labor Code measure and has nothing to do with health plan claims.