California employers must comply with a raft of new workplace laws every Jan. 1, most of which expand protections and benefits for employees.
Though perhaps not as sweeping as in recent years, some of those taking effect in 2025 are uniquely Californian.
Some will help workers who need time off for their own disability or pregnancy, to care for a sick family member to recover from a crime or to help a family member recover. There’s also new help for freelancers, a ban on certain types of mandatory meetings, a few updates to anti-discrimination laws, and two that could help protect employees from workplace violence and stalkers.
In addition, employers won’t be able to use a “digital replica” of a performer’s voice or likeness without the performer’s consent. Nor can they require job applicants to have a driver’s license if they don’t really need to drive for work.
And even though voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have increased the statewide minimum wage, it’s still going up next year thanks to an annual inflation adjustment.
Here are some of the bigger changes coming to California workplaces next year. Unless stated otherwise, all take effect Jan. 1.
Minimum wage increases
The statewide minimum wage for most California workers will increase to $16.50 from $16 per hour next year, thanks to inflationary adjustments in the previous law.
Higher minimums already took effect for workers in two industries this year: A 2023 law increased it to $20 for most fast-food workers effective April 1. Another one raised the minimum to between $18 and $23 for healthcare workers (depending on the type of facility) starting Oct. 16 and to $25 for all healthcare workers over several years.
About 25 Bay Area cities also have higher-than-statewide minimum wages, most pegged to inflation, that go up on Jan. 1. A few other cities, including San Francisco, have higher minimums that will adjust on July 1.
Disability and Family Leave enhancements
Most private-sector workers in California participate in the Employment Development Department’s State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave programs. These programs replace a percentage of workers’ pay when they temporarily need time off for a non-work-related illness, injury or pregnancy; to bond with a new child; to care for a seriously ill family member; or to participate in certain events because of a family member’s military deployment.
A 2022 law that takes effect in 2025 will increase the programs’ wage-replacement rate. “Employees who make up to about $62,000 a year will receive 90% of their regular income. For everybody else, it’s 70% of their income up to a cap,” said Katherine Wutchiett, senior staff attorney for Legal Aid at Work in San Francisco.
That cap will be just over $1,680 per week, up from $1,619 this year.
Currently, the replacement rate is “60% for just about everyone and 70% for really low-wage workers,” Wutchiett said.
To pay for these benefits, participating workers will have 1.2% of pay withheld from their earnings, up from 1.1% in 2024.
And thanks to AB2123, California employers can no longer require employees to use up to two weeks of accrued vacation time before they start receiving benefits under the Paid Family Leave program (or their employer’s leave program if offered instead of the state plan).
Help for freelancers
SB988 aims to make sure that independent contractors working for clients in California get timely payment for their work.
It requires the “hiring party” to provide the freelancer with a signed, written contract, either physically or electronically, which specifies certain things including both parties’ names and addresses, the services the freelancer will provide, the dollar amount and method of compensation and the due dates for the invoice and payment. Full payment must be made by the due date or within 30 days after the work is completed if no date is specified.
Alternatively, the freelancer could create the contract and ask the client to sign it, said Rafael Espinal, executive director of the Freelancers Union.
The hiring party means any person, company, or organization (except governmental ones) in California that hires a freelancer for $250 or more within 120 days. The law covers self-employed individuals performing virtually all types of professional services, “from writers to yoga instructors to graphic designers,” Espinal said.
An unpaid freelancer can file a civil action, and if the freelancer wins, the client will have to pay the freelancer’s attorney fees and up to double the amount due. This should “apply pressure to the non-responsive client,” Espinal said.
Among the many new workplace laws taking effect in California in 2025 are measures providing more help for California workers who need time off, more protections for freelancers, and a ban on certain types of mandatory meetings.
Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2005‘Captive audience’ meetings
SB399, dubbed the “captive audience bill,” prohibits employers from requiring employees to attend meetings intended to communicate the employer’s opinion about “religious or political matters.” The latter includes elections for political office, legislation, regulation, and the decision to join or support any political party or labor organization.
If an employer takes adverse action against an employee who refuses to attend the meeting, the worker can file a civil complaint.
“This bill was a big victory for the labor community,” said Joy Rosenquist, an attorney with Littler Mendelson in Sacramento. She added that “not being able to discuss with employees how a new regulation will or would affect your company seems overreaching, impractical and unfair to the business.”
Rosenquist predicts it will be legally challenged. “The employer is allowed to express their views and opinions. That is not an unfair labor practice unless they threaten reprisal or promise benefits,” she said.
More help for crime victims
AB2499 expands the law that requires employers with at least 25 employees to give workers who are victims of certain crimes or domestic violence unpaid but protected time off to attend to their needs and ensure their safety.
The expanded law also provides unpaid, protected time off for an employee to help a family member who becomes a victim of crime. Victims and their family members can opt to use paid sick leave for these purposes. “This would allow a parent to help a daughter move, or let a sibling go to court to help seek a restraining order against her stalker,” Wutchiett said.
The law somewhat expands and redefines the types of crimes that qualify for this leave. It now covers those who experience a “qualifying act of violence,” which includes domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and any act or conduct that causes bodily injury or death to another person, the use or brandishing of a firearm and an actual or perceived threat to cause physical injury or death.
Also new: Employers can cap the total leave an employee victim can take off for this reason at 12 weeks. The cap is five or 10 days for the family member who is not the victim, depending on the reason for the leave, said attorney Chelsea Mesa, a partner with Seyfarth Shaw in San Francisco.
She added that the bill also lets employees use sick time for jury and witness duty.
Who needs a driver’s license?
SB1100 prohibits employers from stating in a job advertisement, application, or recruiting material that the applicant must have a driver’s license unless the employer “reasonably expects” the position to require driving and “reasonably believes” that using alternative forms of transportation – such as walking, biking, ride-hailing or taking public transit – would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer.
Although the bill amends the state’s anti-discrimination law, it was backed mainly by biking and environmental groups, with no registered opposition.
Every California employer should review their job descriptions and other materials to see if they need changes to meet the new law. “Even if they don’t apply (the driving requirement) in practice, having it out there in print could be problematic,” said Bianca Saad, an attorney with the California Chamber of Commerce.
Workplace discrimination
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and education code prohibit discrimination based on race, age, gender, and many other factors. A law that took effect in 2020 amended them to include “traits historically associated with race,” including hair texture and hairstyles such as braids, locs, and twists.
AB1815 removes “historically” from that definition. Determining whether a trait is “historically” or “culturally” associated with race is ambiguous and beside the point, according to a legislative analysis of the bill. Additionally, the bill extends the prohibition to “all business establishments” under the Unruh Act. It also clarifies that traits associated with race are not limited to hair texture and hairstyles, Mesa said.
SB1137 clarifies that these state anti-discrimination laws apply not just to a single protected characteristic — such as race or gender — but also to any combination of protected characteristics.
This concept is often called “intersectionality.” The bill says this term “captures the unique, interlocking forms of discrimination and harassment experienced by individuals in the workplace and throughout society, particularly Black women, as compared to Black men and White women.”
Mesa says employers should add a reference to the “combination of protected categories” to their equal employment opportunity and harassment policies.
Workplace safety
Two new laws, SB553 and SB428, could help protect employees from violence or harassment at their workplace. Together, they will let an employer or an employee's union representative seek a temporary restraining order to protect an employee who has suffered harassment, unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence, Saad said.
SB1105 lets agricultural employees who work outside use their paid sick leave to avoid smoke, heat, or flooding caused by a local or state emergency.
Digital replicas
Under certain circumstances, AB2602 will prevent employers from using AI-generated “digital replicas” of a performer’s likeness or voice as a substitute for a human performer without that performer’s consent. It applies to new performances starting Jan. 1 and is not retroactive to digital replicas created or used before that date. It was sponsored mainly by unions representing performing artists.