California’s legislature covered a wide array of labor and employment law topics in the 2024 legislative session. The laws discussed below were signed into law by Governor Newsom and will become effective on January 1, 2025, unless otherwise noted. This Insight includes highlights of some of the new laws affecting employers doing business in the Golden State and is not intended to cover every new California state and local employment law that was enacted this session.

And new this year, we are sharing a few notes on policies we think may be a highlight for the upcoming 2025-2026 legislative session.

A Ban on Mandatory Employer-Sponsored Meetings

To start off, the governor signed SB 399, which creates the “California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act” and prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend meetings for the purpose of communicating the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters. Of course, it’s not that simple. Employers are also prohibited from holding required meetings pertaining to “elections for political office, political parties, legislation, regulation, and the decision to join or support any political party or political or labor organization.” The inclusion of legislation and regulations as prohibited subjects is not an easy feat if you’re an employer in California doing business highly regulated by state agencies.

Privacy, Data Security, and Artificial Intelligence

Although there were over 35 artificial...

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