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Under Labor Code 1198.5 , former and current employees have had the right once a year to inspect and receive copies of their personnel records relating to performance and grievances.
Under Labor Code 1198.5, former and current employees have had the right once a year to inspect and receive copies of their personnel records relating to performance and grievances.
SB 513, effective January 1, 2026, expands access to include education and training documentation, to include:
(A) The employee’s name.
(B) The training provider’s name.
(C) The date and duration of the training.
(D) The core competencies of the training, including software or equipment skills
(E) Any resulting certification or qualification.
Employers must retain such records for a minimum of three years and respond to requests for inspection or copies within 30 days, with the option to extend to 35 days. Management may verify the identity of a records requester.
The statute also identifies records exempt from the production requirement, including potential criminal offense investigations, reference letters, certain ratings and others.
Failing to provide such records by the due date can subject the employer to a $750 penalty.
Take-Aways:
On receipt of a worker’s records request, management should promptly consult with a qualified attorney to ensure correct and timely compliance.
For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys, Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
November 7, 2025
Starting January 1, 2026, California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 692 prohibits employers from requiring that employees pay money back simply because they quit or are fired.
Starting January 1, 2026, California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 692 prohibits employers from requiring that employees pay money back simply because they quit or are fired. The law strengthens the state’s long-standing rule that protects employees’ right to change jobs freely.
What’s Changing:
Some employers have used “stay-or-pay” agreements, i.e., contracts that give workers a bonus, training, or tuition help on the condition that they repay those costs if they leave before a set date. For example, an employer pays $2,000 for graduate school and requires the employee to repay it if they resign within a year.
With limited exceptions, any such repayment term will be void, and employers who use them could owe actual damages or $5,000 per affected employee (whichever is more), and injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees.
What’s Now Banned:
Employers cannot require or enforce agreements that:
These rules cover anyone working in California, no matter where the contract was signed or which state’s law it cites.
Limited Exceptions:
Employers can’t charge workers for leaving a job unless the agreement falls under one of a few narrow exceptions -- most commonly, these two:
The program must lead to a transferable credential (like a license or certificate) and:
Employers can still offer bonuses tied to staying with the company if:
Take-Aways:
Employers don’t need to change existing contracts, but they should use the rest of 2025 to review and remove any unenforceable “stay-or-pay” or repayment terms to ensure that all agreements made or updated on or after January 1, 2026, comply with AB 692.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Cindy Bamforth
October 31, 2025
A California employee unable to vote in a statewide election outside of work hours is entitled to voting time off at either the beginning or end of shift.
A California employee unable to vote in a statewide election outside of work hours is entitled to voting time off at either the beginning or end of shift. Upon receiving a voting receipt from the employee, the company must pay for up to two hours of that voting time.
If the employee knew the need for time off up to three days before the election date, he/she must provide management notice at least two days prior to that date.
Employers must post a notice of these voting rights at least ten days before an election date. The Secretary of State website provides a template in several languages.
Take-Aways:
With the upcoming November 4 election, employers must post that voting rights notice by tomorrow, October 25.
For further assistance, please contact one of our attorneys, Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
October 24, 2025
Beginning February 1, 2026, all California employers must provide each worker an annual, stand-alone notice summarizing key labor protections and constitutional rights.
Beginning February 1, 2026, all California employers must provide each worker an annual, stand-alone notice summarizing key labor protections and constitutional rights. While commercially available “poster sets” of various workplace laws have been common, these incoming Labor Code sections aim to standardize and, in the face of growing Homeland Security aggression, expand the scope of such notices.
“Provide” means individual distribution (including to new hires and any authorized union rep). Employers may use any ordinary channel (personal service, email, text) reasonably expected to reach the employee within one business day. Management must retain compliance records for three years.
At minimum, the notice must describe: (1) workers’ compensation rights; (2) the right to receive notice of immigration-agency inspections and protection against unfair immigration-related practices; (3) the right to organize or engage in concerted activity; (4) employees’ constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at work (e.g., freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and the Fifth Amendment rights to due process and against self-incrimination); plus a list of enforcement agencies and any new legal developments the Labor Commissioner deems material.
The Labor Commissioner must post a template notice by Jan. 1, 2026, updated annually, and make it available in multiple languages (including English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi). The Labor Commissioner must publish employee and employer explainer videos by July 1, 2026. Employers may also share or link the videos when distributing the written notice.
If an employee opts in, the employer must notify the worker’s designated emergency contact if the employee is arrested or detained on the worksite; if the incident happens off-site during work hours or job duties, notice is required only if the employer has actual knowledge. Employers must give existing employees the chance to designate a contact by March 30, 2026, and collect this information from new hires after that.
The law has teeth. Management may not retaliate against an employee for exercising rights under the Act or assisting an investigation into violations. The Labor Commissioner can investigate, issue citations, and file civil actions, and public prosecutors may also enforce the Act. Civil penalties are up to $500 per employee per violation and, for violation of the arrest/detention notification provisions, up to $500 per employee per day, capped at $10,000 per employee. Courts may award injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorneys’ fees. Local ordinances may provide greater protection.
Take-Aways:
New Labor Code sections 1550 – 1554 expand “know your rights” from a poster-wall concept into a recurring, trackable employer obligation tied to meaningful penalties. Best practices include:
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Tim Bowles
October 24, 2025
A well-planned Halloween celebration can boost morale and build teamwork. Without clear boundaries though, it can lead to uncomfortable or even risky situations under California’s strict workplace laws.
A well-planned Halloween celebration can boost morale and build teamwork. Without clear boundaries though, it can lead to uncomfortable or even risky situations under California’s strict workplace laws. Here’s how to keep it festive and compliant.
DOs:
DON’Ts:
Take-Aways:
With thoughtful planning and clear expectations, Halloween can be a workplace treat -- not a legal trick.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Cindy Bamforth
October 16, 2025
California is among the nation’s leaders in the range of characteristics protected from workplace discrimination and harassment, including ● race, ● color, ● ancestry, ● national origin, ● religious creed and practice, ● age (40 and over),...
California is among the nation’s leaders in the range of characteristics protected from workplace discrimination and harassment, including:
A business may not base an employment decision – e.g., hiring, wage rate, advancement opportunity, discipline or termination – on any of these categories. Rather, proper personnel management stems from worker training, ability and productivity.
An employer must also refrain from creating or condoning a work environment hostile to any of these classes, e.g., unwelcome sexual advances or racial slurs. Proper personnel management promotes worker respect, decorum and positive collaboration. See, e.g., the California Civil Rights Department’s Harassment Prevention Guide
While experienced management may well appreciate these legal hazards, an enterprise may yet find itself in litigation for retaliation, i.e., fumbling a discrimination or harassment complaint by failing to adequately document its investigation and resolution and the non-discriminatory, business-based reasons for any subsequent discipline or termination.
Take-Aways:
On report that any worker, supervisor, associated independent contractor, or, in some instances, a customer has engaged in such discrimination or harassment against an employee, management must investigate fully, keeping written reports of findings and any resulting – and appropriate – performance improvement plan and/or discipline for documented offenders. To help head off retaliation claims, managers must also take care to document the basis for any following adverse employment action against the complaining individual or anyone else.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Tim Bowles
October 3, 2025
With two exceptions (New Zealand, 1894; Australia, 1896), no country had a minimum wage law until the 20th Century. Instead, employers paid supposed “just (or fair) wages” on the purported mutual consent of their workers.
With two exceptions (New Zealand, 1894; Australia, 1896), no country had a minimum wage law until the 20th Century. Instead, employers paid supposed “just (or fair) wages” on the purported mutual consent of their workers.
Beginning in the late 1800s, religious and political groups attacked the “just wages” principle on the premise that the vast majority of employees lacked the bargaining power to negotiate a livable wage. In the United States and throughout the industrialized world, factory conditions were also notoriously harsh and workdays long. Not uncommonly at the time, American businesses hired woman and children for lower wages than men, notoriously under horrendous conditions. By 1910, two million children worked up to 20 hours a day in this country. Exhausted, many were killed or injured on the job.
Into the 1920s, American lawmakers sought to improve working conditions in their states. By 1925, fifteen states had passed minimum wage laws, including California at 16 cents an hour. The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled several of the laws unconstitutional. (By 1929, every state had passed laws limiting child labor.)
President Roosevelt’s New Deal radically changed the employment landscape. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) established the first federal minimum wage at 25 cents an hour. The law also imposed overtime pay (“time and a half”) after a mandated 40-hour regular workweek. The Act also introduced the classification of “exempt (from overtime)” and “non-exempt” employees as well as outlawed many forms of child labor.
By 1943, the Labor Department under Francis Perkins had raised the federal minimum wage to 40 cents an hour. It hit $1.00/hour in 1955. Federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009. Although each U.S. state has the power to set a higher minimum wage than the federal rate, none can set a lower one.
California first set the state minimum wage in 1916, 16 cents/hour. It now stands at $16.50/hour, with higher minimums for certain fast food and health care workers ($20.00/hour and $25.00/hour, respectively). Some 40 cities and counties continue to set higher local minimums.
This state’s wage regulation began with the 1913 creation of the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC). Over the decades, the agency has issued 17 industry-specific “wage orders” confirming minimums and setting other wage and working conditions.
Nations without a government-mandated minimum wage include Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, Singapore, and Italy. These countries rely on strong collective bargaining between unions and employers to set wage standards for different industries, ensuring fair pay and worker protections without a statutory wage floor.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Tim Bowles
October 3, 2025
There are no shortcuts to workplace safety laws. Following OSHA investigation from a worker’s fall through a skylight, the U.S.
There are no shortcuts to workplace safety laws.
Following OSHA investigation from a worker’s fall through a skylight, the U.S. Department of Labor has assessed $752,846 in penalties against Florida contractor Elo Restoration LLC on ten violations, including no guardrails, safety nets and personal fall arrest systems, as well as no alternative fall protection measures for employees working six feet or more above ground.
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer stated: “[W]e are committed to doing everything in our power to put the American worker and their safety first. These citations are a stark reminder that workplace safety is non-negotiable, and we will carry out our duty to hold employers accountable when they put lives at risk.”
Take-Aways:
Employers must take safety precautions seriously. Providing adequate safeguards against falls is step one for any above-ground work site.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
September 26, 2025
The Labor Commissioner’s Bureau of Field Enforcement ( BOFE ) has cited a Koreatown barbeque restaurant $680,000 for widespread wage theft violations.
The Labor Commissioner’s Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) has cited a Koreatown barbeque restaurant $680,000 for widespread wage theft violations.
The citation covers failure to pay 48 workers all wages owed, denial of legally required meal and rest breaks, and issuance of incomplete or inaccurate wage statements. Some employees were allegedly required to remain on the premises during lunch breaks, while others worked split shifts without receiving premium pay.
Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower noted: “Restaurant workers are often at risk of wage theft, especially when employers ignore laws around pay practices and required break periods. These citations reflect our continued efforts to hold employers accountable and ensure that workers receive the full wages and protections they are legally entitled to regardless of immigration status.”
Take-Aways:
Employers must follow all wage-and-hour laws, including meal and rest break requirements. Our firm offers proactive, confidential reviews of wage, hour, and documentation practices -- before a government agency initiates its own, less friendly, investigation.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
Cindy Bamforth
September 25, 2025