By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Major new California laws effective for 2026 mostly focus on employment and labor, data privacy, housing, education, introducing a higher statewide minimum wage, new employee notice requirements and restrictions on certain employer contracts.
The 2024-2025 California legislative session came to a close at midnight on Oct. 13, 2025, when Governor Gavin Newsom’s deadline to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature expired. Of those 917 bills, the Governor signed 794 into law and vetoed 123. Most of these bills become effective on Jan. 1, 2026.
What follows is a selection of the employment and education bills we feel are most important to the mountain communities.
Employment
CLC (California Labor Code) 1182.12 – Effective Jan. 1, 2026, California’s minimum wage will increase to $16.90 per hour for all employers. The increase also affects the minimum annual salary for many exempt employees to $70,304.
AB 692 – Prohibits “Stay or Pay” contracts that require an employee to pay their employer a penalty, fee or acquired debt if they terminate their employment before completing a minimum term of employment.
SB 400 – The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) provides tax credits for green and clean energy projects. This ensures that correction payments under IRA do not trigger liability for wage and hour claims on the belief that making a correction payment is proof of unpaid wages.
SB 648 – Protects an employee’s right to keep their tips and gratuities.
SB 809 – Enables construction contractors to avoid penalties for previously misclassifying drivers as independent contractors.
AB 751 – Requires employers to permit employees who work 3.5 hours or more in a day at a petroleum facility to take an uninterrupted rest period of at least 10 minutes for every four hours worked.
SB 693 – An employer must provide an employee with an unpaid, uninterrupted and duty-free meal period of at least 30 minutes before the start of their sixth hour of work and a second meal period before the start of their 11th hour of work.
SB 464 – Requires an employer with more than 100 employees to submit an annual pay data report to the California Civil Rights Department that includes a breakdown of employees by race, ethnicity and sex.
SB 513 – Employees have a right to inspect and receive a copy of their own personnel records.
AB 963 – Creates new recordkeeping relating to projects subject to prevailing wage requirements requiring the owner or developer that enters into an agreement with a contractor on a public works project that is advertised for bid to make a new record available to the Department of Industrial Relations.
SB 294 – Requires employers to provide each current employee and new hire with a standalone notice regarding categories of workers rights no later than Feb. 1, 2026.
AB 1340 – Gives drivers for a transportation network the right to engage in unionization activities.
SB 590 – Expands leave rights and benefits to events affecting family members.
AB 858 – Employers in hospitality-related industries must offer employees laid off for COVID-related reasons with information about jobs that become available.
SB 261 – Requires a significant penalty for employers who fail to make timely payments for judgments arising out of non-payment of wages.
Education
AB 727 – Requires student IDs in California’s public middle schools, high schools and colleges to include the phone number for the Trevor Project, a leading crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth.
AB 1123 – Modifies the composition of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to allow for early childhood representation without expanding the total number of commissioners.
AB 715 – Aims to reduce antisemitism by establishing a new Office of Civil Rights and an antisemitism prevention coordinator, who can report antisemitism in schools, as well as train and advise local education agencies.
AB 1454 – Provides missing links to California’s early literacy reforms, which are effective in other states. The bill would provide teachers with evidence-based resources and training in reading instruction, including phonics in kindergarten and first grade.
AB 49 – Prohibits schools from allowing immigration enforcement officers from entering a school campus or questioning a student unless they have a judicial warrant or court order.
AB 3216 – California’s Phone-Free Schools Act, which passed in September 2024, requires all K-12 schools to create and implement policies by July 1, 2026, to limit or prohibit student smartphone and smartwatch use during the school day. The bill aims to boost focus, mental health and social development by reducing digital distractions.
New California Laws – Part 2 will appear in the Jan. 1, 2026, issue of the Alpine Mountaineer.
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