According to Chris Micheli, Governor Newsom approved 794 and vetoed 123 of the 917 bills presented to him at the conclusion of this first year of the 2025-26 Legislative Session.

Seyfarth Synopsis: With Governor Newsom's October 13 deadline to sign bills behind us, we review California's new employment laws. The most notable among them are new pay equity requirements, amendments to Cal-WARN and leave laws, and extensions of meal and rest period exemptions for certain industries.

According to Chris Micheli, Governor Newsom approved 794 and vetoed 123 of the 917 bills presented to him at the conclusion of this first year of the 2025-26 Legislative Session. Below is our summary of the key labor and employment laws that will soon impact California employers. All new laws are effective January 1, 2026, unless otherwise stated.

Soon-to-be-New Laws

Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Laws

SB 642 – Definition of Pay Scale

Current law requires that employers make available the "pay scale" of a position to a candidate applying for that position. As we explained in detail here, SB 642 revises the definition of "pay scale" to mean a "good faith" estimate of the salary or hourly wage range that the employer reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire. The bill also expands the statute of limitations to assert pay equity claims from two years to up to three years after the cause of action occurs, and allow recovery of lost wages for the entire time during which the violation...

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