News & Updates: 2026 New Legal Developments for California Employers

2026 New Legal Developments for California Employers

Our annual “New Developments” Newsletter for employers is now available. This year, we are excited to offer a live Webinar on December 16 from 12-1:30 PM to discuss the New Developments and share our insights with you.

California once again has many new requirements for employers.  Here are some of the highlights on the new legal developments we will be discussing.

• Under California’s new AI regulations, employers who use automated-decision systems must be able to prove they are not biased.
• Regarding pay issues, employers will need to update job postings to provide a good-faith estimate of the pay scale for the position (rather than generic ranges), and pay equity analyses must include all forms of compensation (including bonuses) and employees of all genders.
• Employers will need to update sick leave, jury duty, and victims of crime or violence policies to comply with updates to California-mandated crime/violence victim leave.
• A new annual “Know Your Rights” notice will need to be posted, which will include (among other things), information about workers’ compensation benefits and employee’s rights during inspections conducted by immigration agencies.
• Employers with tipped employees must comply with IRS changes to tips and overtime reporting.
• Employers may no longer have “stay or pay” agreements, with limited exceptions.
• SB 93 recall obligations for hospitality employers have again been extended, this time to 1/1/27.
• Effective 1/1/26, California’s minimum wage is going up to $16.90/hour, which means that California’s minimum exempt salary is also going up to $70,304 per year (or a minimum of $5,858.67 per month), at least two times the California minimum wage.

Please feel free to contact any of the attorneys in our Labor and Employment group if you have any questions.