California employer regulatory updates
Real regulatory changes detected by RegWatch’s daily monitoring and verified against the official source. Each update covers what changed, who it applies to, key dates, and what employers may need to do.
Tables, roundups and trackers
- California Minimum Wage Increases on January 1, 2027
- EDD Disaster Payroll Tax Assistance Notices, 2026
- California Required Workplace Postings: What to Post
- California Workers' Comp Updates, 2026: Fee Schedules and Treatment Guidelines
- Cal/OSHA Heat and Safety Reminders, 2026
- Federal Employer Updates for California Businesses, 2026
- New California Laws Signed in 2026 for Employers and Businesses
- Proposed California Employment Rules: Tracker
- California Rulemaking Tracker
- This Week in California Employment Compliance: Change Log
CA Legislature
AB 1331: California Bans Workplace Surveillance in Bathrooms From January 1, 2027
AB 1331 (Chapter 851, Statutes of 2026) bars employers from using workplace surveillance tools to monitor employees in a workplace bathroom unless a court orders it. Employees may leave surveillance tools they carry outside when they enter a bathroom, with exceptions such as badges or alarms required for identification or safety that do not record audio or video and have no built-in AI. The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors can enforce it, with a penalty of up to $500 per violation. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 1883: Employers Can't Use AI to Read Employees' Emotions or Collect Neural Data From 2027
AB 1883 (Chapter 853, Statutes of 2026) bars employers from using an AI-powered workplace surveillance tool on employees to recognize or predict their emotional state, or to collect neural data. Tools used for safety, or that do neither, remain allowed, and some aerospace and defense work is exempt. The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors can enforce it, with a penalty of up to $500 per violation. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 1697: California's Stay-or-Pay Contract Ban Now Starts With Contracts Signed in 2027
AB 1697 (Chapter 889, Statutes of 2026), an urgency law that took effect when the Governor signed it on September 30, 2026, moves California's ban on stay-or-pay employment contracts to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2027, instead of January 1, 2026. It also adds exceptions, including some recruitment and retention bonuses, repayment of advanced paid time off on voluntary separation, and certain broker-dealer, insurance producer and investment adviser affiliation contracts.
AB 1803: Harassment Training Must Include Anti-Hate Speech Training From January 1, 2028
AB 1803 (Chapter 547, Statutes of 2026) requires the sexual harassment training that employers with 5 or more employees must provide every two years to include anti-hate speech training, beginning January 1, 2028.
AB 2150: Employers That Require CPR Training Must Add Naloxone Training in 2027
AB 2150 (Chapter 384, Statutes of 2026) requires an employer that requires employees to get CPR certification to also have them take an online video training on using naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses, with limited exceptions. The Emergency Medical Services Authority approves the training modules, and a violation is a crime. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
SB 1149: Bereavement Leave Covers an Employee's Designated Person From January 1, 2027
SB 1149 (Chapter 679, Statutes of 2026) lets employees take California bereavement leave for the death of a designated person: anyone related to them by blood or whose association with them is the equivalent of a family relationship. An employer may limit each employee to one designated person per 12-month period. The leave law covers employers with 5 or more employees and public employers. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
SB 1237: Repeat Failure to File California Pay Data Reports Can Cost $1,000 per Employee
SB 1237 (Chapter 1019, Statutes of 2026) raises the civil penalty for a private employer's repeat failure to file its annual California pay data report with the Civil Rights Department from up to $200 to up to $1,000 per employee. A first failure stays at up to $100 per employee. The change is operative January 1, 2027.
SB 947: New Limits on AI and Automated Decision Systems in Employment From July 1, 2027
SB 947 (Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026) limits how employers may use automated decision systems in employment, beginning July 1, 2027. When an employer primarily relies on such a system to discipline or fire someone, it must give the employee a written notice afterward and, on request, a description of the employee's own data the system primarily used. Retaliating against employees who assert these rights is barred, and violations carry a civil penalty of $500 each.
SB 951: Cal/WARN Notices Must Disclose AI-Driven Layoffs From January 1, 2027
SB 951 (Chapter 860, Statutes of 2026) requires a Cal/WARN notice for a mass layoff, relocation or termination caused in whole or in substantial part by AI or other automated technology to include specified details, including the job functions that will be automated. EDD will publish a summary of the notices it receives. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 2563: California Sex Discrimination Law Covers Gender Stereotypes From January 1, 2027
AB 2563 (Chapter 952, Statutes of 2026) requires every California law that bans discrimination based on sex or gender to be read as banning sex discrimination as the bill defines it, including discrimination based on degree of conformity to sex or gender stereotypes. It adds that definition to "sex" in both the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 2321: Interfering With Cal/OSHA Becomes a Crime in 2027
AB 2321 (Chapter 936, Statutes of 2026) makes it a misdemeanor to willfully resist, impede or interfere with Cal/OSHA investigators, or to willfully violate a related court order. It also makes a willful safety violation by an employer or a supervising employee a crime when it causes serious injury, illness or exposure, not only death or prolonged impairment. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
SB 1111: Digital Replicas and Employee Photos in Ads Need Consent From 2027
SB 1111 (Chapter 862, Statutes of 2026) makes clear that California's right-of-publicity law covers digital replicas, meaning realistic computer-generated versions of a person's voice or likeness. It also removes the rule that presumed an employer's use of an employee's photo or likeness, when incidental to an advertisement, was not a knowing use without consent. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 1793: California Merchants Must Round Cash Totals to the Nearest 5 Cents From July 1, 2027
AB 1793, the California Common Cents Act (Chapter 896, Statutes of 2026), requires merchants to round the cash-paid portion of a transaction to the nearest 5 cents starting July 1, 2027. The rounding is ignored when computing tax, fees and surcharges, and collecting more than the rounded amount carries the same remedies as overcharging.
SB 923: CCPA Deletion Rights Expand and Online-Only Businesses Need a Web Request Form in 2027
SB 923 (Chapter 482, Statutes of 2026) expands the CCPA right to delete to cover personal information a business collected about a consumer, not only information collected from them. A business that operates only online and has a direct relationship with consumers must also offer an online method, such as a web form or portal, for privacy requests. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 2246 Replaces California's Age-Appropriate Design Code on January 1, 2027
AB 2246 (Chapter 187, Statutes of 2026) repeals California's Age-Appropriate Design Code Act and replaces it with similar rules, without the old act's exceptions, for online services, products and features likely to be accessed by children. Covered businesses must take reasonable steps to prevent specified risks of harm to children, a child can void contract terms that resulted from a design feature, and the Attorney General or a public prosecutor can sue. It takes effect January 1, 2027.
AB 1683: Workers' Comp Disability Payments by Prepaid Card No Longer Expire in 2027
AB 1683 (Chapter 59, Statutes of 2026) lets employers keep paying workers' compensation disability indemnity into prepaid card accounts indefinitely. Under prior law that authorization ended January 1, 2027.
California Extends Sales and Use Tax to Prewritten Software, Including SaaS, on January 1, 2027
Starting January 1, 2027, SB 122 extends California sales and use tax to prewritten computer software, including software transferred electronically or accessed remotely, which is the SaaS case. Software sold to a California customer that was previously delivered tax-free becomes a taxable sale, and because amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law flow into the Bradley-Burns local tax law automatically, local and district rates apply too. The statute excludes digital assets, digital audio works, digital audiovisual works, digital books, digital video game products, digital visual works, and digital infrastructure, meaning cloud services on which a customer deploys and runs their own software. SB 122 was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on June 29, 2026.
Local Ordinances
Redwood City Minimum Wage Rises to $19.30 on January 1, 2027
Redwood City's minimum wage rises from $18.65 to $19.30 per hour on January 1, 2027. It covers employees who work at least 2 hours a week in the city, unless a higher industry-specific minimum wage covers them.
Santa Clara Minimum Wage Rises to $19.25 on January 1, 2027
The City of Santa Clara's minimum wage rises from $18.70 to $19.25 per hour on January 1, 2027. The city says its 2027 workplace posters will be on its minimum wage page by November 1, 2026.
West Hollywood Minimum Wage Rises to $20.94 on January 1, 2027
West Hollywood's citywide minimum wage for non-hotel employees rises from $20.25 to $20.94 per hour on January 1, 2027, and stays there through December 31, 2027. Hotel employees stay at $20.87 per hour until June 30, 2027.
Cupertino Minimum Wage Rises to $19.25 on January 1, 2027
Cupertino's minimum wage rises from $18.70 to $19.25 per hour on January 1, 2027.
El Cerrito Minimum Wage Rises to $19.36 on January 1, 2027
El Cerrito's minimum wage rises from $18.82 to $19.36 per hour on January 1, 2027. The city adjusts it each January 1 based on the local Consumer Price Index and has posted its official 2027 wage bulletin.
Los Altos Minimum Wage Rises to $19.25 on January 1, 2027
Los Altos's minimum wage rises from $18.70 to $19.25 per hour on January 1, 2027, under Ordinance No. 2016-424 and the Bay Area Consumer Price Index. The city has posted its 2027 official notice for employers to post.
Richmond Minimum Wage Rises to $19.61 on January 1, 2027
Richmond's minimum wage rises from $19.18 to $19.61 per hour on January 1, 2027. Every employer must post the official notice the city publishes each year.
Palo Alto Minimum Wage Rises to $19.25 on January 1, 2027
Palo Alto's minimum wage rises from $18.70 to $19.25 per hour on January 1, 2027. The city has posted its 2027 employer poster and employee Know Your Rights poster.
San Carlos Minimum Wage Rises to $18.35 on January 1, 2027
San Carlos's minimum wage rises from $17.75 to $18.35 per hour on January 1, 2027. From 2028 it rises each January 1 by the CPI-U, capped at 3.5%. The city has posted its 2027 official notice in English, Spanish and Chinese.
Los Angeles Minimum Wage Rises to $18.42 on July 1, 2026
LA citywide minimum wage rises to $18.42/hr and hotel worker wage/health benefit rates change effective July 1, 2026.
Los Angeles Hotel Worker Wage: $25.00 Plus a $4.25 Health Benefit From July 1, 2026
LA amended hotel worker minimum wage ordinance, changing July 1, 2026 health benefit payments and annual wage increases starting July 1, 2027.
Santa Monica Minimum Wage Rises to $18.47 (Hotels $25.00) on July 1, 2026
Santa Monica minimum wage rises to $18.47/hour and hotel worker wage to $25.00/hour, both effective July 1, 2026; new legal notices must be posted.
Long Beach Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Rises to $26.50 on July 1, 2026
Long Beach hotel worker minimum wage rises to $26.50/hour effective July 1, 2026.
Pasadena Minimum Wage Is $18.57 per Hour From July 1, 2026
Pasadena's minimum wage is $18.57 per hour from July 1, 2026, for adult and minor employees who work two or more hours a week in the city, according to the City's official notice. The state fast-food minimum wage applies instead at national fast-food chains.
IRS Payroll
IRS Is Retiring the FIRE E-File System: Move 1099 Filing to IRIS Before the 2027 Filing Season
The IRS is retiring its Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system. In IR-2026-99, issued Aug. 24, 2026, it told filers who use FIRE to prepare now and move to the Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) before the 2027 filing season.
IRS Raises the 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC Reporting Threshold to $2,000 for 2026
IRS raised the 1099-MISC/NEC information-reporting threshold to $2,000 for 2026 payments under the new Working Families Tax Cuts law.
USCIS/I-9
E-Verify Employers: Download Pre-2017 Case Records by January 8, 2027
E-Verify employers have until Jan. 8, 2027 to download records for E-Verify cases last updated on or before Dec. 31, 2016. On Jan. 11, 2027, USCIS will dispose of those records under the National Archives retention schedule.
USCIS Revises M-274 Handbook Sections 5.0–5.3 on EAD Automatic Extensions
USCIS revised Sections 5.0–5.3 of the M-274 Employer Handbook on Form I-9 completion guidance, effective July 7, 2026.
E-Verify Status Change Report Now Flags TPS and Asylum EADs
E-Verify's Status Change Report now flags additional EAD categories (TPS, asylum, adjustment of status) beyond parolee EADs.
TPS and Form I-9 in 2026: Terminated Countries, Ukraine and Sudan Through Oct. 19, and El Salvador's Status
USCIS Temporary Protected Status changes affecting Form I-9, checked Oct. 18, 2026: the designations for Somalia (ended Aug. 14), Ethiopia (Aug. 18), Burma and South Sudan (Aug. 7), Haiti and Syria (July 27) and Yemen (July 20) are terminated. Ukraine and Sudan are set to end Oct. 19, 2026, with USCIS-notice-extended EADs valid through that date. USCIS says Salvadoran TPS holders keep protection, including work authorization, until it announces a decision on El Salvador. Lebanon is extended through Nov. 27, 2026.
CalSavers
EDD
AB 1514: Borello Test Returns for Licensed Manicurists Through 2028 and Is Extended for Commercial Fishers
Under AB 1514, California businesses can again use the Borello test instead of the ABC test to classify licensed manicurists, from Jan. 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2028, when all statutory requirements are met. Services performed in 2025 must be classified under the ABC test. The law also extends the Borello exception for commercial fishers through Dec. 31, 2030.
EDD 2026 Payroll Tax Rates: SDI 1.3%, ETT 0.1%, and New Withholding Schedules
EDD posted 2026 payroll tax rates: SDI withholding 1.3% on all wages, ETT 0.1% on the first $7,000 per employee, UI Schedule F+ (1.5%–6.2%, new employers 3.4%, $7,000 wage base), plus the 2026 Method A and Method B withholding schedules.
EDD Publishes the 2026 California Employer's Guide (DE 44)
EDD published the 2026 California Employer's Guide (DE 44), an annual reference for state payroll tax compliance.
DIR
California Minimum Wage Rises to $17.40 on January 1, 2027
California's statewide minimum wage will rise to $17.40 per hour effective January 1, 2027.
Cal/OSHA Reminds Employers of Heat Illness Prevention Duties as Extreme Heat Continues
Cal/OSHA reminder to employers to follow heat illness prevention rules amid extreme heat in Southern California.
EEOC
CRD
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