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:

• Channel The Waters - Workplace Policy Handbook & Forms for 2026 (March 27, 2026)
• Heads-Up: Know Your Rights Law — Emergency Contacts Designations by Monday, March 30, 2026 (March 27, 2026)
• What's New in 2026: Sign of the Times (January 9, 2026)

Cindy Bamforth
June 4, 2026