Some New and Old Employment Law Issues to Start the New Year

01.12.2026

As we reach the mid-point of the roaring twenties, it is never too late to consider some new and old employment law issues confronting employers. The following is a brief reminder of issues employers might have to deal with in the coming year.

New “Know Your Rights” Notice

On or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, employers must provide current employees with a workplace rights notice, a copy of which can be found here: www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Know-Your-Rights-Notice/Know-Your-Rights-Notice-English.pdf. The notice must also be provided to new hires starting February 1.

Employers must provide the notice in the language usually used to communicate employment-related information to the employee and which the employee understands, if the language is available as a template notice provided by the Labor Commissioner. The Labor Commissioner has already posted model notices in English and Spanish. Versions in Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi will soon be posted.

The annual notice to employees covers seven categories of information, which include information about workers’ compensation, the right to notice of an I-9 inspection by immigration agencies, protection against unfair immigration-related practices, constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement in the workplace, labor organizing rights, a description of new laws affecting workplace rights, and a list of the enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice.

Employers that violate the notice requirement shall be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per employee.

New Designated Emergency Contact of an Employee’s Arrest or Detention

Starting January 1, 2026, upon notice from an employee, employers must notify the employee’s designated contact if the employee is arrested or detained on the worksite or, when an employer has actual knowledge that the employee was arrested or detained during work hours but not on the worksite. By March 30, 2026, employers must provide employees with the opportunity to name emergency contacts and to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained. Employers that violate the requirements to notify a designated emergency contact shall be subject to a penalty of up to $500 per day per employee, with a maximum penalty of $10,000 per employee.

New Minimum Wage Rates

The California statewide minimum wage increased to $16.90 on January 1, 2026. The updated minimum wage order is posted on the Labor Commissioner’s website at www.dir.ca.gov/iwc/WageOrderIndustries.htm. There may be higher minimum wages for certain healthcare employers with ranges from $18.63 to $24 per hour with most healthcare employees receiving a wage rate of $25 per hour on July 1, 2026. Similarly, fast-food industry employees wage rate shall continue to be $20 per hour for 2026. Finally, certain cities and counties pursuant to local ordinances have a higher minimum wage rate ranging from $17.34 in Oakland to $20.25 in West Hollywood. For a full list of local minimum wages see: laborcenter.berkeley.edu/inventory-of-us-city-and-county-minimum-wage-ordinances/#s-2

How To Deal With The Perennially Tardy Employee

A frustration that many employers experience is how to deal with the consistently tardy employee. Employers are afraid to engage in rounding because of potential wage-hour class or PAGA actions, and yet those employees who are not clocking in on a timely basis are stealing time from the company. There actually is an answer to this dilemma. Labor Code section 2928 specifically provides for a deduction from wages for the equivalent of the wages which would have been earned during the time actually lost. Thus, if an employee is five minutes late, an employer can deduct the equivalent of five minutes from wages for that day. The statute goes on to state that for a loss of time less than thirty minutes, a half hour’s wage may be deducted. Nothing will get an employee’s attention more than docking them for half an hour for being a few minutes lates. Thus, it may behoove employers to set forth a policy in their handbook and ensure it is clearly spelled out so employees now face an exacting punishment for hitting the snooze button on their phone.

Employers with questions about any of the above updates may contact the authors or their usual employment law contact at AALRR.