Through new legislation and shifting enforcement priorities, California continues to challenge common workplace practices, including collectible wage judgments and binding employment agreements. Employers must understand how new rules on wage judgment penalties, stay-or-pay provisions, and arbitration agreements affect risk and strategy.
Below is what employers need to know for 2026.
Wage Judgment Enforcement Is Getting
California continues to push pay transparency further into the mainstream of employment law. Employers with 15 or more employees now face more detailed requirements for posting wage ranges and reporting pay data. Penalties for missing or incomplete information have increased, and misunderstandings about these rules can lead to significant exposure.
Here is what every California
Upcoming Webinar: New Year, New Laws – What Oregon Employers Need to Know for 2026 – February 4, 2026
As a new year gets underway, gain a clear understanding of the employment law changes Oregon employers need to know. Join Stoel Rives labor and employment attorneys Melissa Healy, Matt Tellam, and Megan Bradford
As Congress approaches a funding lapse resulting in a government shutdown, California employers should prepare for several indirect effects on workplace operations. Although a federal shutdown does not halt California’s employment laws, it does pause many federal agency functions, as discussed below.
Federal Enforcement Agencies
Most federal labor agencies will furlough staff and suspend routine
In Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc., a California Court of Appeal answered a question that many California employers may not have known even needed to be answered—whether California employees can prospectively waive their mandatory meal periods. Given the almost universal use of such waivers by employers (based on the assumption that the waivers are
On January 21, 2025, the White House announced an Executive Order entitled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” The Order instructs federal agencies to take administrative and legal action against diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) programs, which it defines as systems of race- and sex-based preferences. The Order is directed at both public- and
On January 15, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, holding that the “preponderance of the evidence” is the applicable standard courts must use to analyze whether an exemption is proper under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In practical terms, this means employers must
A few weeks ago, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced a bill to implement a 32-hour workweek. While such a law is a long way from becoming a reality, it does raise interesting questions concerning exactly what a 32-hour workweek would look like, especially in California.
Before engaging in this thought experiment one thing should be
On January 18, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills to decide the question of whether California trial courts have inherent authority to strike claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) on the grounds that the claims were not manageable. The Court ultimately upheld the appellate court’s holding, which we previously discussed in detail here, finding that trial courts do not have such inherent authority.Continue Reading California Supreme Court Sweeps PAGA Manageability Under the Rug in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills