2026 Employment Law Update

Newsletters

by Gerald L. Sauer and Diana Olivo

As part of our annual tradition, we have prepared a brief summary of some of the new and updated laws that impact employers and workers in 2026. In the event that you have any questions about the summary below or employment-related issues, please contact Cara Sherman or Gerald Sauer.

  • Workplace Know Your Rights Act: Notice (SB 294) – Beginning on or before February 1, 2026, employers are required to provide each current employee and new employees, upon hire, a standalone written notice of employee rights in the following areas: workers’ compensation, immigration, concerted activity and constitutional protections. This standalone written notice should be provided annually via various methods so long as it can reasonably be anticipated that the employee will receive it within one business day of sending. If the employee has an authorized representative, written notice should be provided to the authorized representative annually via electronic or regular mail. Employers are required to maintain records of when the notice was sent and the notice delivery for three years.
  • Equal Pay Act Claims (SB 642) – This Act has been amended to clarify that except under specified circumstances, employers are prohibited from paying employees wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of another sex for similar work. In addition, the statute of limitations for Equal Pay Act Claims has been extended from two years to three years after the last date the cause of action occurs. Employees are entitled to relief for up to six years during which the violation exists.
  • Personnel Records Expansion (SB 513) – Employers are now required to include employee education and training records in the employee’s personnel files. The following information should be included in the education and training records: name of the employee, name of the training provider, duration and date of the training, core competencies of a training, including skills in equipment or software, and the resulting certification or qualification.
  • FEHA Automated Decision-Making Systems (ADS) Regulation – The use of ADS in employment decisions has been confirmed to fall under existing law and prohibits employers, or their agents, from using ADS to discriminate against applicants and employees based on characteristics protected under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). This regulation also provides that employers can defend against discrimination claims by showing that they performed “anti-bias testing or similar proactive efforts to avoid unlawful discrimination” before and after adopting an ADS. Records regarding the use and the results of ADS should be maintained for four years.
  • Increase in California Minimum Wage – Effective January 1, 2026, the state minimum wage increased to $16.90 per hour for all employers regardless of number of employees. This means that the salary basis test for most salaried positions will increase to a minimum of $70,304.  Note that many local counties and cities, including Los Angeles (both county and city), have local minimum wages that are higher than the state minimum wage.
  • Executive Order 14173 – This executive order targets discrimination based on protected characteristics and does not excuse unlawful discrimination or absolve parties from investigation just because they use terms such as “DEI” or “Equity.” In addition, this executive order ended the affirmative action program for federal contractors.

S&W provides counseling, advice and litigation services concerning employment matters. Please feel free to contact Cara Sherman at csherman@swattys.com or Gerald Sauer at gsauer@swattys.com for inquiries.