Get ready for 2025: New laws for California employers to know

At a glance

• Several new laws have been signed in California.
• Expanded employee protections: New laws are enhancing protections for employees, including expanded rights for taking time off for jury duty, court appearances, and assisting family members who are victims of crimes.
• Leave policies: Changes to leave policies include prohibiting employers from requiring employees to use paid vacation before accessing state-provided Paid Family Leave benefits.
• Workplace meetings: Employers are now restricted from holding mandatory meetings to discuss religious or political matters, aiming to protect employees from coercion and intimidation.
• Workers’ rights information: Employers must provide clearer information about workers’ compensation rights, including the right to consult an attorney.
• Freelancer contracts: New regulations are being introduced to protect freelance workers, ensuring timely payment and formal written contracts.

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Employers in California are facing new legal requirements related to a host of issues, including mandatory job postings, freelancer contracts, leave, child labor and discrimination and retaliation. Below we summarize new laws taking effect on January 1, 2025.

Jury, Court and Victim Time Off 

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 2499 expands the list of crimes for which employees can take time off, allows employees to take protected time off to assist family members who are victims of specified crimes, and permits the use of state paid sick leave for these purposes. The law also recasts the jury, court, and victim time off provisions for employees as unlawful employment practices within the California Fair Employment and Housing Act within the enforcement authority of the Civil Rights Department. 

Paid Family Leave 

Under AB 2123, effective January 1, 2025, employers are prohibited from requiring employees to use paid vacation before using California's Paid Family Leave Program (PFL). PFL is a state-run program that provides benefits to individuals taking time off to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner, bond with a new minor child, or assist military family members under active duty. Previously, employers could require employees to take up to two weeks of accrued vacation before employees could access PFL benefits.  As of January 1, 2025, this requirement will no longer apply.

Captive Audience Ban 

Effective January 1, 2025, the California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, SB 399, prohibits employers from holding 'captive audience' meetings – employer-sponsored mandatory meetings that discuss religious or political matters, including unionization. The new law:

• prohibits an employer from subjecting, or threatening to subject, an employee to discharge, discrimination, retaliation, or any other adverse action because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion about religious or political matters;
• requires an employee who refuses to attend such a meeting to continue to be paid;
• defines 'political matters' to mean matters relating to elections for political office, political parties, legislation, regulation, and the decision to join or support any political party or political or labor organization;
• defines 'religious matters' as matters relating to religious affiliation and practice and the decision to join or support any religious organization or association;
• imposes a civil penalty of USD500 per employee per violation;
• authorizes the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions and authorizes any employee to bring a civil action for damages, including punitive damages, and to petition for injunctive relief; and
• clarifies that the law does not: (i) Prevent an employer from communicating to its employees any information that the employer is required by law to communicate or that is necessary for employees to perform their job duties or (ii) prevent an employer from requiring employees to undergo training to comply with the employer's legal obligations, including obligations under civil rights laws and occupational safety and health laws. 

Workers' Compensation Rights 

Under AB 1870, effective January 1, 2025, California employers are required to include information in notices related to workers' compensation rights and benefits that an injured employee has the right to consult an attorney for advice and that attorneys' fees will be paid from the injured worker's award in most instances. 

Whistleblower Posting 

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 2299 requires the Labor Commissioner to develop a model list of employees' rights and responsibilities under the whistleblower laws and specifies that an employer that posts the model list shall be deemed in compliance with requirements. 

Freelance Protections 

Effective January 1, 2025, the Freelance Worker Protection Act, SB 988, will impose new requirements on contracts with freelance workers. A 'freelance worker' is defined as a person or organization composed of no more than one person, whether or not incorporated or employing a trade name, that is hired or retained as a bona fide independent contractor by a hiring party to provide professional services in exchange for an amount equal to or greater than USD250, either by itself or when aggregated with all contracts for services between the same hiring party and independent contractor during the immediately preceding 120 days. The new law:

• requires a hiring entity to pay a freelance worker the compensation specified by a contract for professional services on or before the date specified by the contract or, if the contract does not specify a date, no later than 30 days after completion of services;
• requires a contract between a hiring party and a freelance worker to be in writing, contain certain elements, and requires a hiring party to retain a copy of the contract for no less than four years;
• prohibits a hiring party from discriminating or taking adverse action against a freelance worker for enforcing rights under the law; and
• authorizes an aggrieved freelance worker, the Labor Commissioner, or a public prosecutor to bring a civil action and for a prevailing plaintiff to recover various fees and damages depending on the violation. 

Driver's License Discrimination 

Under SB 1100, effective January 1, 2025, it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to include a statement in a job advertisement, posting, application, or other material that an applicant must have a driver's license unless both of the following conditions are satisfied:

• the employer reasonably expects driving to be one of the job functions for the position; and
• the employer reasonably believes that satisfying the job function using an alternative form of transportation would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer. 'Alternative form of transportation' includes using a ride hailing service, tax, carpooling, bicycling and walking. 

Intersectionality Anti-Bias 

Effective January 1, 2025, SB 1137 amends the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to clarify that the law prohibits discrimination on the basis not just of individual protected traits, but also on the basis of the intersectionality (eg combination) of two or more protected traits. According to the California legislature, "intersectionality is an analytical framework that sets forth that different forms of inequality operate together, exacerbate each other and can result in amplified forms of prejudice and harm." 

Child Labor 

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 3234 requires that California employers that have voluntarily subjected themselves to a 'social compliance audit' to determine if child labor is involved in their operations to post a clear and conspicuous link on their website to a report detailing the findings. 'Social compliance audit' is defined as a voluntary, nongovernmental inspection or assessment of an employer’s operations or practices to evaluate whether the operations or practices are in compliance with state or federal labor laws, including wage-and-hour and health and safety regulations, including those regarding child labor. The report must contain at minimum:

• the year, month, day and time the audit was conducted, and whether the audit was conducted during a day shift or night shift;
• whether the employer did or did not engage in, or support the use of, child labor;
• a copy of any written policies and procedures the employer has and had regarding child employees;
• whether the employer exposed children to any workplace situations that were hazardous or unsafe to their physical and mental health and development;
• whether children work within or outside regular school hours, or during night hours, for the employer; and
• a statement that the auditing company is not a government agency and is not authorized to verify compliance with state and federal labor laws or other health and safety regulations. 

Employers in California are encouraged to review and update their policies, procedures and training to prepare for new requirements in 2025.