Complying with applicable employment laws is a never-ending battle for California employers. While certain changes and updates can easily become part of a compliant employer’s annual routine, such as increasing employees’ wages to align with effective minimum wage updates, refreshing the applicable posters required to be displayed in the workplace, and reviewing employee salaries to determine which exempt employees need raises to continue to qualify as exempt, new laws mean new required updates to an employer’s policies and procedures.
For any employer that has not yet reviewed their employment practices through the 2026 lens, here is a short guide for some essential updates to implement immediately.
Minimum Wage
Effective as of January 1, 2026, the statewide minimum wage has increased to $16.90 per hour. Additionally, the minimum annual salary for “exempt” employees has increased to $70,304. Please note that these minimums are set at the statewide level, but an employer may be subject to higher minimums depending on the applicable local jurisdiction and employer’s industry. For example, effective January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in West Hollywood is $20.25 per hour.
Pay Scale Information
In addition to the updated minimums regarding what employees must be paid, employers are also now restricted in what they must communicate to potential employees regarding the expected salary or hourly wage range for the applicable job posting. As part of SB 642, signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, employers with 15 or more employees are required to provide clearer details in any job posting regarding the pay scale for the applicable position. The applicable “pay scale” cannot be a general range for what an employee in that position may make in the future. Instead, SB 642 redefines “pay scale” to mean “a good faith estimate of the salary or hourly range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire.”
Updates to Mandatory Cal/WARN Notice Requirements
Certain California employers are also subject to additional information and notice requirements. Pursuant to SB 617, employers subject to the California Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification (“Cal/WARN“) Act who are required to provide written notices before ordering a mass layoff, relocation or termination at a covered establishment must now include in such notices whether or not the employer plans to coordinate services for the affected employees, such as a rapid response orientation, and through which entity such services will be coordinated, if at all. The notices must also include a functioning email address and telephone number for the local workforce development board and particular language pointing employees to local workforce development boards and America’s Job Center of California. Such employers will also need to include in the applicable notices a description of CalFresh (the statewide food assistance program) and CalFresh contact information in the form of the phone number for the CalFresh benefits helpline and a link to the CalFresh website.
Workplace Know Your Rights Act
California employers, as of February 1, 2026, are also subject to the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, established by SB 294. Among other things, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act requires such employers to provide a stand-alone written notice to each of its current employees on February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, containing a description of workers’ rights in areas such as (i) the right to workers’ compensation benefits, (ii) the right to notice of inspection by immigration agencies, (iii) protection under unfair immigration-related practices, (iv) labor organizing rights, (v) constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, (vi) a description of certain new legal developments as determined by the California Labor Commissioner, and (vii) a list of the enforcement agencies that must enforce the underlying rights set forth in the notice. Template notices have been posted by the California Labor Commissioner and can be used by employers to comply with the notice requirements of the Workplace Know Your Rights Act.
To ensure compliance with current California employment laws, employers should closely review their company policies and procedures regularly and check in with their employment counsel for relevant updates and reminders about best practices.