2026 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills
Forced Arbitration Justice and Conformity Act – AB 2155 (Aguiar-Curry). AB 2155 would end the practice of forcing workers to surrender their right to seek justice for sexual harassment or sexual assault and would prohibit employers from compelling arbitration for seamen, railroad employees, and other workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce. By doing so, the bill strengthens survivors’ and workers’ rights and ensures access to the courts for those who have been harmed, while also ensuring clarity for employers by aligning California and federal law.
Preventing Immigration-Related Coercion – AB 2495 (Kalra). AB 2495 will prohibit employers from coercing workers through unfair immigration-related practices in order to preemptively induce silence, inaction, or compliance around workplace violations. Existing retaliation laws are not enough to address this problem because they require that a worker first engage in protected activity, such as filing a wage claim. This bill amends Labor Code §1019 to make clear that immigration-related coercion itself is unlawful. Under this bill, coercion means to engage in conduct that would dissuade a reasonable person in that position from engaging in conduct which the person has a legal right to engage in, or to induce a reasonable person in that position to engage in conduct which the person has a legal right to abstain from. AB 2495 will empower immigrant workers to report ongoing or subsequent violations of workplace rights without an employer-created climate of fear.
Bereavement Leave for Chosen and Extended Family – SB 1149 (Durazo). SB 1149 would allow California workers to use unpaid, job-protected bereavement leave following the death of a chosen or extended family member. California is one of the few states to protect bereavement leave, but some workers are excluded simply because their family member isn’t recognized under current law. Without bereavement leave, workers may be forced to choose between mourning a family member and their job. SB 1149 will make California bereavement leave more equitable by allowing workers to take job-protected leave following the death of a “designated person” who is a chosen or extended family member. This simple change will align California’s bereavement leave with other state sick and family leave laws.
2025 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills
The Pay Equity Recovery Act – SB 642 (Limón). This bill strengthens the California Fair Pay Act by: (1) revising outdated gender binary language, (2) clarifying what constitutes “wages,” (3) extending the statute of limitations to three years, (4) allowing workers to recover lost wages for up to 6 years, and (5) providing limits on how wide pay ranges may be in public job postings. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 468, Statutes of 2025.
Paid Family Leave for Chosen Family – SB 590 (Durazo). This bill expands the definition of “family member” to allow workers to receive wage-replacement benefits under California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program when taking time off to care for a seriously ill individual that is related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 772, Statutes of 2025.
Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs) – AB 692 (Kalra). This bill prohibits employers from “trapping” employees through Training Repayment Agreement Provisions (TRAPs) or employment debt that require workers to pay back the costs of training if they leave their employment. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 703, Statutes of 2025.
Sexual Assault Cover Up – AB 250 (Aguiar-Curry). This bill protects survivors of sexual assault by holding both the perpetrator of the sexual assault and the entity who engaged in a cover up of the sexual assault accountable for the harm inflicted on survivors. To account for the fact that it can take years for sexual assault survivors to come forward with civil allegations, AB 250 will provide a two-year window for filing any sexual assault claim, regardless of when the assault occurred, for damages suffered as the result of an attack. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 682, Statutes of 2025.
Top Labor and Employment Bills of 2025
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2024 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills *
Intersectional Discrimination – SB 1137 (Smallwood-Cuevas). This bill explicitly recognizes intersectionality (e.g., discrimination based on one or more protected characteristic, such as race and gender, or gender and age) under our anti-discrimination laws. Specifically, SB 1137 amends the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Cal Gov’t Code §§ 12940 et seq., the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Civ Code §§ 51, and §§ 200 and Section 200 and 210.2 of the Education Code to clarify that these laws protect against discrimination and harassment based not just on one protected characteristic enumerated within the statute, but also because of the combination of two or more protected bases. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 779, Statutes of 2024.
The Health and Safety for All Workers Act – SB 1350 (Durazo). This bill brings Cal/OSHA into compliance with Federal OSHA standards by ensuring Cal/OSHA coverage for agency-based domestic workers and high-hazard domestic work. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 895, Statutes of 2024.
Caregiving for Chosen Family – AB 518 (Wicks). This bill expands the definition of “family member” to allow workers to receive wage-replacement benefits under California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program when taking time off to care for a seriously ill individual that is related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. Status: Held on the Senate floor.
Preserving PAGA – AB 2288 (Kalra)/SB 92 (Umberg). These bills codify negotiated reforms to the California Labor Code’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). AB 2288 changes the standing requirements for claims brought under PAGA as established under Huff v. Securitas Sec. Servs. USA Inc., 23 Cal. App. 5th 745 (2018), except for claims brought by qualified non-profits. The bill also changes the penalty structure under PAGA and generally lowers penalties for employers who come into compliance and/or cure alleged Labor Code violations. For purposes of curing, the bill expands the number of Labor Code provisions that may be cured and defines cure as requiring the employer to come into compliance, pay all wages back with 7% interest for previous three years, plus liquidated damages and reasonable lodestar attorney’s fees and costs to be determined by the agency or the court. The bill establishes injunctive relief under PAGA and increases the share of PAGA penalties that go to workers from 25% to 35%. SB 92 creates a formal right to cure process within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency for employers with 100 employees or fewer. The bill also allows employers to seek a court-ordered early evaluation conference shortly after the commencement of a PAGA action to attempt to develop a plan for curing Labor Code violations and settling matters early in the litigation process. Status: Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 44-45, Statutes of 2024.
2024 Bill Tracking: 2024 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills (updated Oct. 9, 2024)
2023 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills
Arbitration Appeal Delays – SB 365 (Weiner). This bill will protect workers and consumers from the delay tactics corporations use when a trial court rules that a forced arbitration agreement is invalid. Current law allows corporate defendants to effectively pause a worker or a consumer's case – sometimes for years at a time – by simply filing an appeal. Specifically, this bill will allow a worker or consumer's case to move forward even if a company files an appeal, instead of putting their case on hold. Status: Signed!
Protecting Survivors from Weaponized Defamation Lawsuits – AB 933 (Aguiar-Curry and Ward). This bill will protect survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination from defamation lawsuits by clarifying that statements made in good faith about their experience are a form of protected speech. This bill will also provide relief to survivors in the form of reasonable attorneys’ fees and damages for successfully defending themselves against meritless defamation lawsuits. Status: Signed!
Caregiving for Chosen Family – AB 518 (Wicks). This bill will expand the definition of “family member” to allow workers to receive wage-replacement benefits under California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program when taking time off to care for a seriously ill individual that is related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. Status: 2-year bill, eligible for passage next year.
Family Caregiver Discrimination – AB 524 (Wicks). This bill will prohibit discrimination against employees based on their status as a family caregiver. Specifically, this bill will add “family caregiver status” to the list of protected categories under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). “Family caregiver status” means a person who provides direct care to one or more family members. Status: Vetoed. A veto message can be found here.
Domestic Workers’ Health & Safety – SB 686 (Durazo). This bill will establish basic health and safety protections for domestic workers under California’s Occupational Safety and Health Act (Cal/OSHA). Status: Vetoed. A veto message can be found here.
Protect Laid Off Workers Act – AB 1356 (Haney). This bill will strengthen California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by expanding protections for workers impacted by mass layoffs. Specifically, it will require companies to give 75 days’ notice prior to a mass layoff, will eliminate the single establishment rule, will guarantee that workers do not have to waive their legal rights to be protected by the WARN Act, and will extend mass layoff protections to remote workers and contract workers. Status: Vetoed. A veto message can be found here.
2023 Bill Tracking: Top Labor & Employment Bills of 2023 (updated 10/17/23)
2023 Bill Tracking: All 2023 Labor and Employment Bills Signed into Law (updated 10/17/23)
2022 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills:
Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act – SB 1162 (Senator Limón). This bill would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide a salary range on all job postings. Additionally, this bill would expand our existing pay data reporting law to require employers with 100 or more employees to submit pay data broken down by race, ethnicity, and sex for both direct employees and employees hired through a third-party staffing agency. Status: Signed into Law!
Bereavement Leave – AB 1949 (Low). This bill would amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act to require employers to grant an employee 5 days of unpaid bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. Status: Signed into Law!
Family Caregiver Discrimination – AB 2182 (Wicks). This bill would prohibit discrimination against employees based on their family responsibilities and would ensure that working families have access to reasonable accommodations to deal with unforeseen school and care closures. Specifically, this bill would (1) add “family responsibilities” to the list of protected categories under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and (2) would provide employees who have caregiving responsibilities with the right to reasonable accommodations to deal with school or care closures under FEHA. Status: Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Immigration Status Protections – SB 836 (Weiner). This bill would reinstate the expired provision of law that protects a person’s immigration status from disclosure in public court proceedings. This protection, originally enacted in 2018, sunsetted at the beginning of this year. This urgency legislation aims to restore these safeguards immediately so that immigration status cannot be used to intimidate workers and thereby prevent them from asserting their rights. Status: Signed into Law!
Caregiving for Chosen Family – AB 1041 (Wicks). This bill would expand the definition of “family member” for purposes of paid sick leave and family and medical leave under the California Family Rights Act by allowing workers to take time off to care for a “designated person.” Status: Signed into Law!
Lactation Accommodation in State Courthouses – AB 1576 (Committee on Judiciary). This bill would require state courthouses to provide lactation accommodations for attorneys and other users of the court. Status: Signed into Law!
Workplace data and technology rights – AB 1651 (Kalra). This bill would establish guardrails governing the use of electronic monitoring and AI (artificial-intelligence-based) management at work. The bill would (1) create new rights and protections regarding data collection, (2) curtail harmful electronic monitoring, (3) reduce the use of AI and (4) hold employers accountable for harms caused by this technology. Status: Stalled in Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection.
Discrimination Based on Cannabis Use – AB 2188 (Quirk). This bill would prohibit employers from discriminating against an employee for off-the-job use of cannabis or (2) based on outdated drug-testing methods that show the presence of non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites. Status: Signed into Law!
2022 Bill Tracking: Top Labor & Employment Bills of 2022 (updated 10/21/22)
2022 Bill Tracking: All Labor and Employment Bills Signed into Law (updated 10/21/22)
2021 CELA-Sponsored and Priority Bills
SB 331 (Senator Leyva) – This expands the prohibition on non-disclosure agreements (“NDA’s”) in settlement agreements involving sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sex discrimination to cover settlement agreements involving all forms of harassment or discrimination. This bill also expands the prohibition on overly broad confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses in employment agreements to cover workers who are required to sign these types of clauses as part of a severance agreement. Signed! SB 331 Fact Sheet
Read some of the great press coverage below:
- MarketWatch: ‘Silenced No More Act’ passes in California, nullifying NDAs in harassment cases
- CNN: A proposed law in California seeks to ban NDAs that prevent workers from speaking up about discrimination and abuse
- Protocol: New California law would give wronged workers a way out of NDAs
- Washington Post: NDAs have long been used to silence the abused, advocates say. A new law may change that.
- Fast Company: This California bill could help more tech whistleblowers speak out
- SF Chronicle: Silicon Valley likes to use NDAs. A California bill could let more employees speak out
AB 84 (Assemblymember Ting) /SB 95 (Senator Skinner) – These bills extends emergency paid sick leave to all workers in California for reasons related to COVID-19 and, additionally, for reasons related to getting a COVID-19 vaccination. Signed!
Click here to see the Department of Industrial Relation’s 2021 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave FAQs.
AB 1041 (Wicks) – This bill will expand the definition of “family member” for purposes of paid sick leave and family and medical leave under the California Family Rights Act, to allow workers to take time off to care for a “designated person.” 2-year bill. AB 1041 Fact Sheet
AB 1119 (Wicks) – This bill will prohibit discrimination against employees based on their family responsibilities and will ensure working families have access to reasonable accommodations to deal with school and care closures. Specifically, this bill will add “family responsibilities” to the list of protected categories under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and will also provide employees with caregiving responsibilities with the right to reasonable accommodations to deal with school or care closures under FEHA. Held in Assembly Appropriations. AB 1119 Fact Sheet
AB 95 (Low) – This bill will require employers with 25 or more employees to grant an employee 10 business days of unpaid bereavement leave upon the death of a family member. Employers with fewer than 25 employees will be required to grant 3 business days of bereavement leave. Held in Assembly Appropriations. AB 95 Fact Sheet
SB 321 (Durazo) – This bill will remove the unjust exclusion of domestic workers from California’s health and safety laws. Signed! SB 321 Fact Sheet
SB 762 (Senator Wieckowski) – This bill will strengthen recently enacted legislation (sponsored by CELA) that established that an employer is in breach of the arbitration agreement (and waives its right to compel or proceed in arbitration) if they do not pay their arbitration fees within 30 days of the due date. To ensure compliance, this bill will require the arbitration provider to send both parties a copy of the invoice with the due date. Signed! SB 762 Fact Sheet
2021 Bill Tracking: 2021 Labor and Employment Legislation: Bills Signed into Law
2021 Bill Tracking: Top 20 Employment Bills of 2021
2020 Bill Tracking: 2020 California Labor and Employment Legislation Signed Into Law (updated October 1, 2020)
2020 Bill Tracking: Top 20 Signed Employment Bills of 2020 (plus notable vetoes and failed bills) (updated September 2, 2020)