With the August 31 deadline having come and gone, the California Legislature has completed its work for the year and sent all bills on to Governor Newsom’s desk. Now all eyes turn to the Governor as he has until September 30 to sign or veto them. If signed into law, bills will take effect January 1, 2025. What are the top 10 bills employers should be watching over the next month?

• SB 399 (Ban on Captive Audience Meetings) – Following the trend of other states that have enacted similar laws in recent years, SB 399 would generally limit an employer’s ability to communicate with employees regarding “political” or “religious” matters – including union organizing. These proposals are generally referred to as bans on “captive audience” meetings – and have received increased attention following Governor (and now Vice Presidential candidate) Walz signing into law similar legislation in Minnesota. So the pressure will be on Governor Newsom to sign this one into law. However, there are some fairly strong arguments that SB 399 is unconstitutional and preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, so you can anticipate some litigation over this one if enacted.
• AB 2499 (Victims of Qualifying Acts of Violence) – This bill makes a number of changes to existing law related to employment discrimination and employees who are victims of crime (or who have family members who are victims of crime). Among other things, the bill expands the definition of “family member” who may be a victim of...

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