Introduction
California enacted several new employment laws in 2025, including enhanced penalties for wage and hour violations, expanded pay data reporting requirements, broadened sexual harassment protections, stronger pay equity and transparency measures, measures addressing tip theft, restriction of employee loan repayment, expanded time off and use of sick pay benefits
Labor + Employment Workforce Watch is a guide to the employment law developments most likely to impact your business. The Troutman Pepper Locke Labor + Employment Team represents employers in the most sensitive workplace matters, enabling our clients to concentrate on their core business operations. Our team is adept at handling and managing labor and employment issues on national, international, and local levels. Recognized as a leading law firm by Chambers USA, our attorneys provide comprehensive advice on every type of employment issue a company may encounter, at every stage of the employment life cycle.
California enacted several new employment laws for 2024, summarized below, including expanded paid sick leave, leave for reproductive loss, protections for employee cannabis use, additional noncompete enforcement limitations, workplace violence prevention program requirements, and industry-specific workplace laws.
California employers face an abundance of new employment laws set to take effect at the start of the new year. Below find descriptions of new requirements for employee leaves of absence, pay transparency and data reporting, COVID-19 compliance, privacy rights, industry-specific requirements, and other new workplace laws. Unless otherwise stated, the obligations created by the laws below will take effect on January 1, 2023. Learn more about these and other employment developments at Troutman Pepper’s upcoming December 8 Labor + Employment webinar.
Q: Now that 2021 is behind us, what are the new California employment law changes for 2022?
A: While employers continued to grapple with the effects of COVID-19 on their businesses, last year’s California legislative actions led to relatively fewer employment law changes than usual for the upcoming 2022 year. Below find descriptions of new employment-related changes, including new rules for severance agreements, expanded limitations on confidentiality and nondisparagement provisions in settlement agreements, extended recordkeeping requirements, changes to the California Family Rights Act, arbitration, COVID-19 compliance, wage and hour, and industry-specific developments.
At the end of last year, we reported that a federal district court had imposed a last-minute temporary restraining order to block California from enforcing its new law (AB 51), which would have imposed criminal penalties on California employers that use mandatory arbitration agreements. That court has now issued a
Beginning January 1, 2020, California law (known as AB 51) makes it a criminal misdemeanor for employers to require arbitration as a condition of employment. The law specifically prohibits mandatory arbitration of claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (such as for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation) and claims
Troutman Sanders will host an Employment and Privacy Law Seminar December 11th in our San Diego office and December 12th in our Orange County office. Both seminars will run from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. and breakfast will be provided. Mark Payne, Chris Gelpi, Kristalyn Lee, and
On September 12, 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled that an aggrieved employee bringing a representative action under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) cannot recover unpaid wages. In ZB N.A. v. Superior Court, the plaintiff, Kalethia Lawson, brought a lawsuit alleging a sole cause of action under PAGA.
In a 2-1 ruling on February 4, 2019, the Second Appellate District of the California Court of Appeals expanded requirements for reporting time pay by ruling that a California employer would owe reporting time pay if it requires an employee to call in to confirm a scheduled on-call shift, even