As 2025 comes to a close, many California employers are juggling holiday schedules, performance reviews, and planning for 2026. Just as importantly, now is the time to evaluate whether your workplace practices are keeping up with California’s fast-changing labor and employment laws. A structured year-end compliance review can help you identify and resolve issues before they become costly demands, audits, or litigation. The following checklist highlights key areas California employers should review now as we enter the new year.

Required Policy and Handbook Updates

Your employee handbook is a critical compliance tool. There are several new laws effective in the coming year(s) that will require policy updates, and below are a few:

• Paid Sick Leave (LC 230.2): Policies must be updated to include an employee’s right to use paid sick leave and take protected unpaid leave if they or a family member are a victim of certain crimes and need to attend related judicial proceedings. This includes proceedings such as a delinquency hearing, post-arrest release decision, plea, sentencing, or any proceeding where the victim's rights are at issue. The definition of a "victim" for this purpose is broad, covering individuals who suffer harm from various felonies.

• Court/Jury Duty (LC 230): The requirement for employees to provide "reasonable notice" prior to taking time off for jury duty has been removed. However, if an employee uses paid sick leave or other protected leave for this...

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