California employers had to give employees written notice by February 1, 2026, and offer them the opportunity to name an emergency contact for arrest or detention notification by March 30, 2026. Employers who have missed these deadlines should act immediately.

As previously reported in Heads-Up: Know Your Rights Law — Emergency Contacts Designations (March 27, 2026) and What's New in 2026: Sign of the Times (January 9, 2026), California's Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Labor Code sections 1550–1559) requires employers to:

• As of February 1, 2026, and annually, give current employees a written notice about their worker protections and constitutional rights.  New hires must receive it at onboarding.  If an employee has an authorized representative, provide the notice to them annually;
• As of March 30, 2026, offer employees the opportunity to name an emergency contact for arrest or detention notification; and
• Give new hires the chance to name an emergency contact and specify if that person should be notified in case of arrest or detention.

Multilingual Notices Now Available

The Labor Commissioner's template notice is available on the DLSE Workplace Postings page in 11 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, and Urdu. Employers should use the language they normally use to communicate with each employee.

Penalties Apply

The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors enforce these rules. Civil penalties are up to $500 per employee per violation. Emergency-contact violations may reach $500 per employee per day, capped at $10,000 per employee.

Take-Aways:

Employers who have not provided the annual notice in the appropriate language or offered employees the chance to designate an emergency contact should do so now and update onboarding processes accordingly.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth, or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Heads-Up: Know Your Rights Law — Emergency Contacts Designations by Monday, March 30, 2026 (March 27, 2026)

Cindy Bamforth
June 4, 2026

California employers had to give employees written notice by February 1, 2026, and offer them the opportunity to name an emergency contact for arrest or detention notification by March 30, 2026. Employers who have missed these deadlines should act immediately.

As previously reported in Heads-Up: Know Your Rights Law — Emergency Contacts Designations (March 27, 2026) and What's New in 2026: Sign of the Times (January 9, 2026), California's Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Labor Code sections 1550–1559) requires employers to:

• As of February 1, 2026, and annually, give current employees a written notice about their worker protections and constitutional rights.  New hires must receive it at onboarding.  If an employee has an authorized representative, provide the notice to them annually;
• As of March 30, 2026, offer employees the opportunity to name an emergency contact for arrest or detention notification; and
• Give new hires the chance to name an emergency contact and specify if that person should be notified in case of arrest or detention.

Multilingual Notices Now Available

The Labor Commissioner's template notice is available on the DLSE Workplace Postings page in 11 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, and Urdu. Employers should use the language they normally use to communicate with each employee.

Penalties Apply

The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors enforce these rules. Civil penalties are up to $500 per employee per violation. Emergency-contact violations may reach $500 per employee per day, capped at $10,000 per employee.

Take-Aways:

Employers who have not provided the annual notice in the appropriate language or offered employees the chance to designate an emergency contact should do so now and update onboarding processes accordingly.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth, or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Heads-Up: Know Your Rights Law — Emergency Contacts Designations by Monday, March 30, 2026 (March 27, 2026)

Cindy Bamforth
June 4, 2026

‍

Cindy Bamforth
June 4, 2026

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulation requires private employers with more than 100 workers, and federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors with 50 or more employees or with contracts worth more than $50,000, file an annual EEO-1 report addressing demographic data by number of employees, race/ethnicity, sex, and job category.

The required filing date changes annually.  This year, the EEOC has not yet announced the filing window.  However, a “rescission” proposal is pending with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget that reportedly will eliminate the requirement altogether.

If the federal EEO-1 reports go by the boards, California’s pay data reporting law remains, mandating private employers with 100 or more employees (with at least one employee in California) to annually submit detailed, establishment-specific information to the Civil Rights Department.  This year’s deadline was May 13, 2026.  Late filings carry a mandatory $100 penalty for the first offense, $200 subsequently.

Take-Aways:

Employers of all sizes should calendar and comply with applicable federal, state and local government reporting deadlines.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Equal Opportunity Report Due: Applies to Companies with 100 or More Employees
• Compliance Countdown: California Pay Data Reporting Deadline Nears, May 13, 2026 (May 7, 2026)
• Sweat the Details: Friendly Workplace Practices Audits Before PAGA Comes Calling (January 24, 2025)

Helena Kobrin
May 29, 2026

Picture the HR director in receipt of this email:

Dear Ms. Smith:

After my more than five years of excellent work, you abruptly and cruelly fired me yesterday. You said I was discharged over some reports of my sexually harassing a younger female co-worker. No way. We were just talking. She liked me.

The timing tells the real story. The day before, I told you I had a headache and needed to leave early. Clearly, the proffered harassment rationale is a pretext for disability-based discrimination and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.

California law gives real force to these protections. In Brown v. State, 41 Cal.4th 620 (2007), the California Supreme Court recognized the law protects qualified employees with disabilities. Cousins v. Bethlehem Steel, 23 Cal.4th 612 (2000) confirms that an employer’s asserted legitimate reason may be challenged as pretext. Franks v. Department of Commerce, 37 Cal.4th 210 (2005) underscores that such issues require serious, evidence-based analysis—not a convenient after-the-fact explanation for an unlawful discharge.

To resolve this without litigation, I demand payment of $100,000 by next Thursday at 5:00 p.m. Otherwise, I will file suit on Friday and go to trial seeking a minimum of $5,000,000.

Sincerely,
Joe Jones***
Those three case decisions are fake. Mr. Jones’s analysis is seemingly plausible only because he plugged in a stilted, false narrative into his chatbox. Yet, this is small comfort to company management having to hire expensive defense counsel to fight an “AI-armed” do-it-yourself litigant, ready to exact revenge by filing push-button motions and other papers until he can extricate an extortionate sum on settlement.

While the scenario is fictitious, the spread of “pro se” (self-represented) plaintiffs suing their former employers aided by spurious AI memos and maneuvers is very real. See, AI Hallucination Cases Database – Damien Charlotin (currently counting 1,459 identified cases worldwide with generative AI produced hallucinated content).

From Kristin White, Fisher Phillips lawyer:

“There’s not really the option of a nuisance settlement, because for these individuals it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars to make them go away … So you have to litigate, and you have to be aggressive.”

From “The ChatGPT Plaintiff: How AI Is Transforming Employment Litigation, Driving Up Defense Costs, and What In-House Counsel Can Do About It | Fisher Phillips LLP” (Feb. 26, 2026)

Take-Aways:

This phenomenon is only likely to accelerate, demanding that management ensure workplace policies and protocols are up-to-date compliant, with worker complaints addressed professionally and resolutions thoroughly documented. In the event of an AI-fueled groundless or inflated legal action, an employer will thus have maximum possible materials in defense.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Retaliation Red Flags - Best Practices to Prevent Claims (April 17, 2026)
  
• File Flaws - Top Five Personnel File Errors (April 9, 2026)
  
• 72 Million Reasons Not to Mess With Women - Employer Agrees to End Widespread Sex Discrimination (February 16, 2024)

Tim Bowles
May 22, 2026

California’s periodic heat waves began early this year, prompting Cal/OSHA press releases starting in March. See Releases 2026-24 (“Very Hot Wednesday – Saturday”) and 2026-25 (“Dangerous Heat Wave This Week”). There have been more since, likely to accelerate with Memorial Day approaching.

Heat illnesses range from mild to deadly, with mild to severe heat rash and heat cramps the less extreme reactions. The two most serious are: heat stroke (e.g., red, hot dry skin, high body temperature, muscle twitching, confusion, fainting, convulsions, unconsciousness); and heat exhaustion (e.g., dizziness, headache, sweaty skin, fast heartbeat, nausea, vomiting, weakness, and/or cramps).

Employers with outdoor workers must have an effective written heat illness prevention plan, following Cal/OSHA’s six protective measures:

• Observe - Closely observe all employees during a heat wave, especially those newly assigned to a high heat area, and provide lighter work, frequent breaks or shorter hours to help acclimate.
• Train - Train all employees and supervisors on heat illness prevention.
• Water - Provide free, cool, fresh, pure drinking water so each worker can drink at least one quart per hour and encourage workers to do so.
• Rest – Encourage all needed cool-down rests in the shade for at least five minutes to avoid overheating.
• Shade - Provide proper shade when temperatures exceed 80 degrees and permit workers to cool off in the shade at any time upon request.

Certain industries have additional high-heat requirements: agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and transportation of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials.

Cal/OSHA’s Consultation Services Branch has a help line at 800-963-9424 for workplace health and safety questions.

Take-Aways:

Employers must take heat illness prevention obligations seriously, ensuring they provide such protections to all working in high heat conditions, outdoors and indoors.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• It's Hot Again: Ramp Up Heat Illness Prevention Measures (July 3, 2025)
• In the Hot Seat: Employer Pays Big for Ignoring Extreme Conditions (January 10, 2025)
• Chill Skill: California's New Indoor Heat Rules (August 2, 2024)

Helena Kobrin
May 14, 2026

Honesty and integrity being mainstays of the legal profession – and most, but not necessarily all, others – AI has empowered some not-so-kosher members of the bar to new lows of disrepute. For example:

In Mata v. Avianca, a 2023 case, plaintiff’s counsel filed papers citing cases with plausible names, reporter citations, judges, procedural histories, and quotations. When the opposition could not locate the cases, the lawyers went all in, submitting supposed copies and excerpts of the “opinions”—also generated by ChatGPT. The judge imposed sanctions on the individual lawyers and their firm, including a $5,000 penalty and notice to the judges whose names had been falsely attached to fabricated opinions.

In Benjamin v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (2025), another lawyer turned late-night to an AI tool to write a reply that contained five fake cases. She later admitted she had not read or cite-checked the authorities and had only skimmed the AI-generated work. “A client expects that her attorney will vigorously pursue her case and make persuasive arguments on her behalf to the court. And she expects that the lawyer will perform the work in an efficient manner. Likewise, courts expect submissions from attorneys to be accurate. They similarly anticipate counsel will identify the appropriate authority supporting a legal position presented to the court. None of that happened here.” Result: $1,000 monetary sanctions.

In ByoPlanet International, LLC v. Johansson (2025) an attorney repeatedly used ChatGPT-generated material across multiple related federal and state cases. The filings included hallucinated cases and fake quotations from real ones.

The judge observed: “During a bygone era when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the undersigned was in law school (1998), to research cases a student often had to hold a volume of a legal reporter in one's hands. To ensure that all cases cited were good law, students and attorneys employed services like Shepard's Citations. But even in that dark, pre-modern age, stars rose in the distance; online legal sources, such as Westlaw and LexisNexis, came forth to aid lawyers in performing legal research…

“Now, another star rises—AI—with the potential to revolutionize the legal field (and much else) once again. From Altman to Zuckerberg, we are told that AI has the potential to perform hours of legal research on nearly any topic in seconds. Large language models like ChatGPT offer the promise to employ AI to perform legal research and even draft legal filings, such as briefs and complaints.

“However, AI is not yet a match for an actual litigator. Employing the euphemism-du-jour, AI regularly ‘hallucinates’ entire cases and ‘hallucinates’ quotations from real cases.”

The judge thus dismissed several of that lawyer’s cases, ordered him to pay the opposing party’s attorney fees and referred the offender to the state bar for discipline.

Take-Aways:

While these instances involve lawyers, the cautions of course also apply to business owners, managers, human resources directors and responsible professionals across the boards. On employment issues, management should not rely on AI-generated directives. There is no substitute for experienced competent legal counsel.

See also:

• Retaliation Red Flags - Best Practices to Prevent Claims (April 17, 2026)

Tim Bowles
May 8, 2026

California private employers should confirm whether they must file 2025 pay data reports with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), due May 13, 2026. Covered employers submit these through the CRD’s Pay Data Portal. The program aims to identify and deter pay disparities based on sex, race, and ethnicity.

Private employers with 100 or more payroll employees must file a payroll employee report. Those with 100 or more labor contractor workers must file a separate labor contractor employee report. Reports must include employees based in California or assigned to a California establishment.

Employers must report workforce data by establishment, job category, race, ethnicity, sex, pay band, hours worked, median and mean hourly rate, and NAICS code, using a workforce snapshot from a pay period between October 1 and December 31, 2025. The CRD indicates this year’s pay data reports must also include employees’ overtime pay exemption status, employment type, and weeks worked during the reporting year.

If an employer fails to file, the CRD may seek a compliance order and recover costs. Courts may impose civil penalties of up to $100 per employee for a first violation and up to $200 per employee for subsequent violations. Labor contractors may share penalties for failing to provide required pay data.

Take-Aways:

Covered California employers must verify filing obligations, gather data promptly, and submit pay data reports by May 13, 2026. The process promotes pay equity and reduces penalty risk.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Retaliation Red Flags - Best Practices to Prevent Claims (April 17, 2026)

Cindy Bamforth
May 7, 2026

There are no coincidences.

I met Joseph over a Summer, 2005 Youth for Human Rights conference in Ghana. Off the flight from his native Liberia, two coastal countries over to the west, “Jay” was death-camp survivor thin.

With a bootlegged DVD of Liberia, An Uncivil War, “Jay” spun out his life. He was eight when the genocide broke out, aged 22 when it ended. Fighting hit his Monrovia neighborhood toward Christmas, 1989, forcing him and family to largely walk the 50 miles to the Sierra Leone border. A 14-year- old commander confronted them at the last checkpoint, in charge of fighters twice his age by being a stone-cold killer. It was eight-year-old Jay who begged and bargained for his remaining family’s lives.

On that Ghana conference’s last day, Jay asked me a question: Would I help him? While the idea was outlandish – how are one (older) L.A. lawyer dude and one (much younger) survivor of the killing fields going to make any difference? – I heard myself say, “Yes.”
***
Then, ten months later, came this journal entry, Monrovia, Liberia, Sunday, June 4, 2006:

“We arrive at Kokota International at 11:00, way early for the 2:30 Accra [Ghana] to Liberia flight, Slok Air. Contrary to assurance in town, Slok GM Kofi insists he will only accept cash, no AmEx, no Visa, no MasterCard, no nothing.

“It is of course Sunday. No banks are open. Our only hope is an ATM and my one Mastercard. We are going to need over $900 U.S. for a round trip, or 9M Ghanian cedis. By taxi, we find an off-site Standard Bank. That ATM will only go up to cedis 800,000 ($80) and doesn’t like my card in any event. So, no go. We hit nearby Barclay’s (broken) and Ecobank (Visa only, no Mastercard). Still, no go.

“Now, I count up the travelers’ checks, nearly $1,000. Cool. I call GM Kofi back at Slok Air. Ex-nay on AmEx travelers’ checks. However, the lady behind airport money conversion window will consider it, but only $400.

“We take the plastic bag bulging with resulting 7,000,000 cedis back to Kofi. ‘Super!’ he says. It’s now 50 minutes to wheels-up. There’s no time to count 7M in small bills, so he takes our word and writes the tickets. [Kofi will later be first at the stairs when we return five days later to accept my payment in full.]

“… Two-plus hours later, we come down over beautiful beaches into Robertsfield, Liberia. It’s around 4 p.m. UN helicopters – maybe 30, including heavy lifters and gunships – are parked in a bunch. A UN passenger jet is disembarking. Through the tiny terminal, Joseph and his cohort greet us in the chaos street side.

“There is a pall over the people, not exactly a poverty of spirit, more like a semi-speechless shock after the last and very recent shots in 13 years of barbaric armed conflict. The buildings are grey drab concrete, black-stained from age and mold. This is a near-end of humanity, stomped-on hard by the unforgiving boot of some insane giant that found the population an annoyance like so many ants, with the few pockets of persons not fully exterminated slowly gazing about to see whether the coast is clear.

“We head the 40 miles to town. The sun is before us, descending gracefully through bright hazy sky and scattered clouds.
“The road for first half is hardly populated. Joseph says it is all government-owned land and thus off-limits for settlement. While it could well be cultivated for rice, Liberia cannot feed itself and must import. When rice hits the streets, it is $30 per bag, way more than most people can afford.

“We pass three UN checkpoints – the real deal, gun towers, sandbags and badass Nigerian troops -- and then suddenly, the thickening masses of Monrovia. In the sinking darkness, there is a large billowing black-smoked fire up on the hill (burning tires to soften the rock for gravel).

“We are through Congotown where exiled warlord Charles Taylor’s empty hulk of a house backs right up onto the street; now we’re by the burned out shell of assassinated President Samuel Doe’s defense ministry, War of the Worlds ruins; presently past Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s unpretentious presidential house; and finally to our modest digs, Corina Hotel.

“Post-dinner, Joseph takes his leave with the rule: ‘open the door for no one, see you in the morning.’”
***
Now almost 20-years on, we have come to recognize West Africa’s struggles -- bloody civil wars notorious for child soldiers, Ebola, endemic poverty, entrenched corruption -- are stark demonstration of illiteracy as the most destructive human rights violation. With decades-long partnerships in government and civil society, we train educators and students through Applied Scholastics International. “APS” is uniquely qualified to offer the solution to illiteracy through the proven effective learning methods of American author and innovator L. Ron Hubbard, widely known as “Study Technology ” or “Study Tech.” Our challenge is not demand, it’s enough capacity to meet the demand.

The plan back in 2005 was one week in Ghana, take some pics, head back. Thanks to him, I’ve never really returned.

… and so, we work. No coincidences.

Tim Bowles
May 1, 2026

Many people with disabilities need special accommodations to use websites.

Although the government proposed a web accessibility rule years ago, it never became final. Meanwhile, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), has published Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and some courts have adopted versions of these standards.

In 2024, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice made WCAG Version 2.1, Level AA the official web and mobile app accessibility standard for state and local governments. This rule does not yet apply to private businesses, but the federal government could adopt a similar rule for them. Some courts already require it.

Governments with 50,000 or more people must comply by April 26, 2026. Cities, municipalities with fewer than 50,000 people, and special district governments have until April 26, 2027.

A Fact Sheet on ada.gov summarizes the final rule’s main points. Key highlights include:

• Federal, state and local governments must meet this standard in their mobile apps and websites;
• The rules apply even if an outside vendor creates and/or maintains the app or website; and
• Some content is not covered, such as archived materials from before the final rule, older electronic documents, third-party content like posts from the public, individual password-protected documents (like a water bill), and preexisting social media posts.

Take-Aways:

Companies with websites or apps should work with knowledgeable IT staff or consultants to ensure their sites meet accessibility standards. WCAG Version 2.1, Level AA is the recommended standard.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Who Lurks About Your Website? Lawyers are Trolling for Disability Access Claims (Sept. 3, 2021)

Helena Kobrin
April 23, 2026