New California Emergency Contact and Notice Requirements: the Workplace Know Your Rights Act
Pursuant to California’s new Workplace Know Your Rights Act, California employers must now provide employees with the opportunity to designate an emergency contact for notice in the event of arrest or detention in covered scenarios; and must provide an annual notice of certain rights.
Emergency Contact for Arrest or Detention
California employers must provide employees with the opportunity to name an emergency contact at the time of hiring for a new employee; and no later than March 30, 2026 for existing employees. Employees must also be permitted to provide updated emergency contact information through the duration of employment.
While designation of emergency contacts is a common practice for employers, a generic emergency contact form is not sufficient to satisfy this new California state requirement. This is because, under the new law, the employee must also be allowed to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite; or during work hours or during the performance of the employee’s job duties but not on the worksite, if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention of the employee.
If an employee has notified their employer that they would like their designated emergency contact to be notified in the event they are arrested or detained, the employer must notify the designated emergency contact if the employee is arrested or detained on their worksite (or, if the arrest or detention occurs during work hours or during the performance of the employee’s job duties, but not on the worksite, the employer must notify the designated emergency contact if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention of the employee).
By March 30, 2026, California employers should update their emergency contact forms to include the question of whether the employee wants their emergency contact updated in the event of a covered arrest or detention; and provide the updated form to their California employees.
ANnual Employee Notice of Rights
California employers now must provide a stand-alone written notice to employees, upon hire and annually, outlining the following:
The right to workers’ compensation benefits, including disability pay and medical care for work-related injuries or illness, as well as the contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
The right to notice of inspection by immigration agencies pursuant to subdivision (a) of Labor Code Section 90.2.
Protection against unfair immigration-related practices against a person exercising protected rights.
The right to organize a union or engage in concerted activity in the workplace.
Constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, including an employee’s right under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution to due process and against self-incrimination.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has made a sample notice available in English, Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic, and Urdu. This and other required California workplace notices can be found on the DIR website here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/wpnodb.html.