Labor & Employment Law Blog

Importantly, the law does not require that employers maintain any education or training records; rather, it only places a requirement on those that do.

The bill was sponsored by United Steelworkers District 12 for the stated purpose of supporting those employees who work in oil refineries in obtaining documentation of their training, including safety training. It was reasoned that the documentation required under this new law will aid future laid off employees in demonstrating qualifications to potential employers.  

Impact on All Employers

Under existing Cal/OSHA regulations, and California state law, employers must provide training on a range of employment and safety topics, including sexual harassment and workplace violence prevention. These regulations and laws often require employers to provide certification or maintain documentation of attendance. Employers will now be required to comply with SB 513 for any documented or certified training, even where the underlying law does not require that the training be included in an employee’s personnel record. 

Impact on Construction and Tunneling Employers

A major question raised by this new law is how it will be applied to the toolbox/tailgate safety meetings required in some industries. 

Tunneling employers— under Title 8 §8406(e)—must conduct and document weekly toolbox/tailgate meetings with crew attendance. It is possible, absent a determination that such meetings do not qualify as training under SB 513, that these records will now need to be included in each employee’s personnel file. 

Construction employers—under Title 8 §1509(e)—must hold toolbox/tailgate meetings at least every 10 working days. While Section 1509 does not explicitly require documentation, Cal/OSHA has long recommended keeping attendance records to demonstrate compliance and to document good-faith safety compliance efforts.

Construction employers must now weigh potential compliance risks if it is determined that these meetings must be separately accounted for in each individual attendee’s personnel file. 

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Employees (or former employees) who are not provided with their personnel records within 30 days of making a request for such records may recover a $750 civil penalty for violation of the law, but more importantly, they may seek injunctive relief and associated attorneys’ fees and costs. 

Union Exemption

These requirements do not apply to employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for:

• Wages, hours, and working conditions;
• A procedure for inspecting and copying personnel records;
• Premium overtime rates; and
• A regular rate at least 30% above the state minimum wage. 

Next Steps

Employers should begin reviewing their existing education and training documentation practices to ensure compliance for all training that is legally required to be documented or which the employer voluntarily documents, before SB 513 takes effect on January 1, 2026.

AALRR will continue to provide updates if further guidance is issued regarding the definition of “training,” or as courts and regulatory bodies seek to enforce these new requirements.

This AALRR publication is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in reaching a conclusion in a particular area of law. Applicability of the legal principles discussed may differ substantially in individual situations. Receipt of this or any other AALRR publication does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm is not responsible for inadvertent errors that may occur in the publishing process.

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