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California’s new “Know Your Rights” notices are now a to-do, not a theory
Stand-alone written notices — plus an emergency-contact mandate — make SB 294 one of the most concrete compliance tasks of the year.
At a glance
- Requires separate, stand-alone written notices covering workers’ compensation, immigration-enforcement inspections, union organizing, protected concerted activity, and workers’ constitutional rights during law-enforcement contact.
- Lets employees designate an emergency contact to be notified if they are arrested or detained.
- Applies to employers of every size, for both new hires and current staff.
- The notice duty begins February 1, 2026; the emergency-contact provision follows March 30, 2026.
SB 294 turns a set of worker-rights principles into paperwork you can be measured against. Rather than folding these topics into a handbook page, California now wants distinct, stand-alone notices — the kind an employee can be handed and an agency can ask to see.
The law bundles several rights into required notices: workers’ compensation, what happens during an immigration-enforcement inspection, the right to organize, the right to engage in protected concerted activity, and the constitutional rights that apply when law enforcement makes contact at work. Separately, it requires employers to let employees name an emergency contact who should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained.
What changed
Two things. First, the delivery format: these can’t be buried. They must be provided as their own notices, which means updating your onboarding packet and distributing to existing employees. Second, the emergency-contact process is new — you need a simple, private way for employees to designate someone and to keep that information current.
Who’s affected
Every California employer, regardless of headcount. If you hire in California, this applies to you. Multi-state employers should treat California as its own track here rather than assuming a national handbook covers it.
What to do now
Build or obtain the five stand-alone notices and add them to your new-hire flow. Distribute to your current workforce and log that you did. Add an emergency-contact field to your intake — stored confidentially and separate from the personnel file — and decide who internally is responsible for acting on it. Calendar the two effective dates so nothing slips.
How The HR Meeting helps
We assemble a compliant, plain-language notice set matched to your workforce, wire it into onboarding, and give you a one-page distribution log so you can show the notices went out — the piece employers most often miss.
Sources & official text
This article is general information for California employers, not legal advice. Rules change and application depends on your facts — confirm against the official text or ask us before acting.