Description
California Workplace Know Your Rights Notice Packet
Help satisfy California's new employee notice requirement with the California Workplace Know Your Rights Notice Packet. Beginning in 2026, California employers must provide employees with a stand-alone written notice explaining important workplace and constitutional rights under the Workplace Know Your Rights Act.
Each packet contains 20 employee notices. The notice provides information about workplace protections, workers' compensation, immigration-related rights, organizing rights, interactions with law enforcement, retaliation protections, and resources for employees seeking assistance.
What Is the California Workplace Know Your Rights Notice?
The California Workplace Know Your Rights notice was established under the Workplace Know Your Rights Act (SB 294).
The law requires California employers to provide employees with a stand-alone written notice explaining specified workplace and constitutional rights. The California Labor Commissioner develops a template notice that employers may use to satisfy the requirement.
Who Must Receive the Workplace Know Your Rights Notice?
California employers must provide the required notice to their employees as required by the Workplace Know Your Rights Act.
The notice requirement applies regardless of an employee's immigration status and is designed to ensure that California workers receive information about important workplace protections and employee rights.
When Must Employers Provide the Notice?
California employers must provide the Workplace Know Your Rights notice:
- To current employees on or before February 1 each year
- To each new employee upon hire
- Annually thereafter to current employees
- Annually to an employee's authorized representative, if applicable
The annual requirement began on or before February 1, 2026 and continues each year thereafter.
How Can Employers Deliver the Notice?
The notice must be provided using a method the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information to employees.
Depending on the employer's normal communication practices, delivery may include:
- Personal delivery
- Text message
- Other employment-related communication methods that can reasonably be expected to reach the employee within one business day
This is an individual employee notice requirement. Simply displaying the notice as a workplace poster does not replace the requirement to provide the written notice directly to employees.
What Rights Are Explained in the Notice?
The California Workplace Know Your Rights notice provides employees with information concerning important workplace and constitutional protections, including:
- Protection against unlawful retaliation
- Workers' compensation rights and benefits
- Notice of certain immigration agency inspections
- Protection against unfair immigration-related practices
- The right to organize a union
- The right to engage in protected concerted activity with coworkers
- Constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace
- Information concerning applicable enforcement agencies
- Important new workplace rights identified by the California Labor Commissioner
Workers' Compensation Rights
The notice includes information about employees' rights to workers' compensation benefits for qualifying work-related injuries and illnesses.
Workers' compensation benefits can include medical treatment and disability benefits when applicable, along with information about contacting the California Division of Workers' Compensation.
Immigration-Related Workplace Protections
The Workplace Know Your Rights notice explains important California protections involving immigration-related workplace activities.
These protections include employees' rights to notice of certain immigration agency inspections of employment records and protections against unfair immigration-related practices when workers exercise protected employment rights.
Rights When Interacting With Law Enforcement
The notice provides information concerning employees' constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace.
This includes information involving Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and Fifth Amendment protections involving due process and self-incrimination.
Employee Organizing Rights
The Workplace Know Your Rights notice also provides information about employees' rights to organize, form or join a union, engage in collective bargaining when applicable, and participate in protected concerted activities for mutual aid or protection.
What Language Must the Notice Be Provided In?
Employers must provide the notice in the language normally used to communicate employment-related information to the employee and that the employee understands when the California Labor Commissioner provides the template in that language.
The Labor Commissioner makes the notice available in multiple languages, including English and Spanish.
Must Employers Keep Records?
Yes. Employers must maintain records showing compliance with the Workplace Know Your Rights notice requirement for three years.
Compliance records must include the date each required written notice was provided or sent to the employee.
What Are the Penalties for Not Providing the Notice?
Employers that fail to comply with the Workplace Know Your Rights notice requirement may be subject to penalties under California law.
California's Labor Commissioner has advised employers that violations of the notice requirement can result in penalties of up to $500 per employee.
Is This a Workplace Poster?
No. The California Workplace Know Your Rights notice is different from a traditional workplace poster.
Employers must provide the stand-alone written notice directly to employees in accordance with the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. Existing California workplace posting requirements continue to apply separately.
Does the Notice Need to Be Provided Every Year?
Yes. California requires employers to provide the Workplace Know Your Rights notice annually.
The California Labor Commissioner is also required to update the official template annually. Employers should therefore use the current notice for the applicable year rather than continuing to distribute an outdated version.
California Workplace Know Your Rights Notice Packet Includes
- 20 employee notices per packet
- Three double-sided pages per notice
- 8.5"W x 11"H format
- Available in English and Spanish
- Workplace rights and retaliation protections
- Immigration-related employee protections
- Workers' compensation information
- Employee organizing rights
- Law enforcement and constitutional rights information
- Employee assistance and enforcement resources
California Workplace Compliance Resources
Labor Law Compliance Center provides California employers with labor law posters, employee notices, new hire pamphlets, IWC Wage Orders, and workplace compliance resources. Visit our California Labor Law Posters page or browse our California State Specialty Posters for additional California compliance products.
