Laws impacting tips, paid family leave and non-binary genders are some of the more than one dozen laws set to impact Californians employers and employees in 2026. These are also laws to increase employer reporting requirements and exemptions for contractors to operate independently, instead of as employees.
Employees can now ask the California Labor Commissioner to investigate complaints about tips. Employers need to abide by rules, such as laws against taking employee tips, or running unfair tip pools or face possible investigations.
While California’s Equal Pay Law prohibits employers from paying employees lower wages based on their sex, the new law changes the wording to another sex to include non-binary genders.
Current paid family leave laws provide up to eight weeks of partial wage replacement to eligible workers for reasons such as bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member.
Under the new 2026 law, which begins on July 1, 2028, a “designated person” will be defined as “anyone related by blood or whose association with the individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
California controversial labor laws prohibit many contractors from operating independently, instead classifying them as employees.
AB 1514...
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