From the White House to the state capital, employers in California are fielding significant industry shakeups from all sides this year.
At the 2026 edition of the annual Employment Law Update this week, presented by the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce at College of the Canyons, two major takeaways from attorney Brian Koegle’s annual presentation prevailed.
First, federal immigration activity stands to be a specter over employers as well as employees throughout 2026. Secondly, the California Legislature gave employee labor rights a boost during this year’s legislative session.
“All of a sudden, mid-July … the California Legislature kind of woke up from their slumber,” said Koegle. “They ended up passing a flurry of bills. Twelve different bills were passed in a two-month period.”
Koegle’s presentation focused on about 10 of those bills, covering everything from expanded paid family leave, to new prohibitions on letting managers cash in on tip pools and restrictions on “stay or pay” contracts that keep employees locked into employment agreements in exchange for certain benefits.
One California Supreme Court case that could have a major impact on the way employers are allowed to track their employees’ time for compensation – minute to minute, instead of hourly – still has yet to be decided, despite being fully argued in June this year, Koegle said.
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