California Employers Required to Provide ‘Know Your Rights’ Notice by Feb. 1

For businesses with any employees in California, a February 1^st deadline for a requirement to inform employees of their rights is quickly approaching. This requirement applies to all employers with employees in California—there is no minimum number of employees required.

Under Senate Bill 294, employers must provide each California employee a standalone written notice explaining a long list of workers’ rights. The notice must be provided on or before Sunday, February 1, 2026, and then annually thereafter as well as to all new employees at the time of hire.

The California Labor Commissioner has provided the template notices in English and Spanish. The notice should be provided in the manner the employer normally communicates with employees, including, but not limited to, hand delivery, email, or text message. The notice must be in a language the employee understands if the template notice is available in that language on the Labor Commissioner’s website. Otherwise, the notice may be provided in English.

Employers can use the template notice provided by the Labor Commissioner or their own notice as long as the notice contains a description of workers’ rights in each of the following areas:

• Right to notice of an I-9 inspection by immigration agencies;
• Protection against unfair immigration practices;
• Constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement in the workplace;
• Union organizing rights; and
• Right to workers’ compensation benefits.

The notice must also contain:

• A description of new laws or legal developments affecting workplace rights that the Labor Commissioner determines to be material and necessary; and
• A list of enforcement agencies that may enforce the rights described in the notice.

Additionally, by March 30, 2026, SB 294 requires employers to provide current California employees with the opportunity to name or update emergency contacts and indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained. After this date, employers must collect this information from new employees at the time of hire and must allow employees to update their emergency contact information throughout their employment.

The new law also requires that, if an employee has requested that the emergency contact be notified of an arrest or detention, the employer must notify the emergency contact if the employee is: (i) arrested or detained at the worksite; or (ii) arrested or detained during work hours or performance of their job duties, but not on the worksite (if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention).

Failure to comply with the new law can result in penalties of up to $500 per employee per day in the case of the emergency contact obligation, and $500 per employee per violation otherwise. There may be additional penalties for violation of the various underlying laws covered in the notice.

If you have questions regarding these new employer requirements, please contact your Barton attorney.