California Aims to Ensure That You Know Your Rights in the Workplace

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Patricia Tsipras

February 10, 2026

In case you missed it, California’s Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Act) became effective on February 1, 2026, requiring employers to provide employees with an annual written notice addressing their workplace rights under state and federal law.

What must employers do?
California employers must provide a written notice (a stand-alone notice; not combined with other notices) to all current employees and an employee’s collective bargaining representative annually by February 1.  New hires must receive the notice upon hire.  Employers must provide the notice in the language that they typically use to communicate employment-related information to the employee.  Delivery methods may include personal service, email, or text message.

What must the notice contain?
The annual notices must address the following rights:

• Worker’s compensation benefits, including disability pay and medical care for work-related injuries or illnesses, as well as contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation
• Rights related to immigration inspections and protections against unfair immigration-related practices
• The right to unionize or engage in concerted workplace activities
• Constitutional rights during interactions with law enforcement at the workplace, including Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination
• The right to designate an emergency contact to be notified if the employee is arrested or detailed while at work

The notice also must contain a list of new legal developments that the Labor Commissioner deems “material and necessary.”

Does a template notice exist?
Yes!  The California Labor Commissioner has developed and posted a template notice on its website.  The English version can be found here.  Employers may use the template to comply with the Act.

Other key points about the Act
Employers must retain records – for three years – of their compliance with the Act.  The records must include the date of compliance and the method used to deliver the notice to employees.

Employers who do not comply with the Act face civil penalties of $500 per employee per violation.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law.

Employer Takeaways
If you have not yet distributed the Know Your Rights notice to employees, do so now and calendar the February 1 deadline to distribute them each year.  Add the notice to your onboarding procedures for new hires.

Note that the Labor Commissioner may update the notice each year, so always confirm that you are using the current template.

In addition, update your record retention policies to ensure that you retain the notice, as well as the required information regarding the date and manner of distribution – for three years.

The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania.  This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Pennsylvania, California, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist.  Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.