Two new California employment laws, taking effect over the next two years, will expand on existing workplace laws prohibiting hate speech and providing added protections for employees who request bereavement leave.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed the new legislation — Senate Bill (“SB”) 1149 and Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1803 — on September 27, 2026. The first new law, SB 1149, expands existing bereavement leave laws, protecting employees’ right to bereavement leave by providing leave beyond the death of a close family member. The new law, which will take effect on January 1, 2027, more loosely defines the term “family member” in a way that could include, for example, a close friend.
The second new law, AB 1803, requires employers to add anti-hate speech to existing harassment training and will take effect on January 1, 2028.
The California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) already requires most employers to provide up to five days of leave after the death of an employee’s family member. And employers are prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against employees who exercise this right. This existing law, which took effect in 2023, expanded CFRA to provide separate bereavement leave, but only after the death of a “family member” then specifically defined to include a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild or domestic partner.
But, beginning in January, employees will also be entitled to take leave after the death of a “designated...
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