California Introduces New “Survivors of Violence” Notice to be Given to Employees

This new California notice became effective on July 1st, 2025 and summarizes employee rights  to take protected time off and request accommodations for victims of violence or a family member of such a victim. This is a result of Assembly Bill 2499, which was signed last year on the 29th of September by the Governor expanding existing employee protected time off provisions.

Notable Changes

Most notably, this has included the broadening of the reasons an employee may take paid time off, sick time, vacation, or any other means of time off to any employee who is a “victim of qualifying violence”. This move from “violence” to a “qualifying act of violence” includes previously covered violent actions such as domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, in addition to:

• Acts, conduct, or a pattern of conduct involving injury or death
• Acts, conduct, or a pattern of conduct involving a firearm (gun) or other dangerous weapon
• Acts, conduct, or a pattern of conduct involving threats of injury or death

All acts listed above are now among the other qualifiers for defining a victim for the purposes of this protected time law, regardless of if anyone has been arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted for any qualifying act. Family members of defined victims are also now eligible for protected time off as part of the new legislation introduced.

Mentioned legislation including court, jury, and victim time off provisions have been moved to Government Code Section 12945.8, also known as the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. This act is under the jurisdiction of the California Civil Rights Department, which leads us into their new required notice for employers regarding various protections for victims and family members of victims of violence within the state.

A New Required Notice is Born

As a result of these changes, employers must provide specific information to employees for a number of events; including whenever an employee is hired, once a year to all employees, upon request from an employee, and to any employee who informs the employer that they are in fact a victim of, or a family member of a victim of, qualifying violence. There is no requirement to post this information in the form of a poster anywhere in the workplace at this time.

For your convenience, we provide a notice compliant with the California Civil Rights Department, which you can find here, and issue to your employees as needed.