California Labor Law FAQs

If you’re reading this, it probably won’t come as any surprise to you that keeping up with California labor law and posting requirements can be confusing. To help you get your head around it, below we’ve addressed some of the questions we hear the most.

If you’re looking for the most recent updates to California labor laws, you can find them on our Labor Law Updates page.

 

Q: Do I need to display labor law posters in California?

Yes. Businesses in every state are required to display state-mandated posters touching on various aspects of labor law, and California is no exception. There are also required federal posters that affect all businesses across the U.S., and many cities have their own posting requirements. Failing to display these posters can result in fines, so it’s important to ensure you’re compliant!

 

Q: Which labor law posters do I need to display in California?

Quite a few. Below are the posters mandated by the State of California at the time of this writing:

• Minimum Wage
  • Effective January 1, 2019:
    • Employers with 26 or more employees – $12.00 per hour
    • Employers with 25 or fewer employees – $11.00 per hour
  • Effective January 1, 2020:
    • Employers with 26 or more employees – $13.00 per hour
    • Employers with 25 or fewer employees – $12.00 per hour
• Payday Notice
• Unemployment Insurance/Paid Family Leave/Disability
• Workplace Discrimination
• Occupational Safety and Health Law – Cal OSHA
• Emergency Numbers
• Access to Medical Records
• Rights as a Pregnant Employee (formerly “Notice A”)
• Family Care/Medical Leave (formerly “Notice B”)
• Workers’ Compensation (Injuries Caused by Work)
• Time Off to Vote
• Whistleblowers
• Paid Sick Leave
• Transgender Rights

 

The above list does not include the aforementioned federal poster requirements or city requirements, so use our Poster Advisor tool to work out which notices you must display in your place(s) of business.

 

Q: How often are California labor laws updated?

If you operate a business in California, you will probably have to update your posters multiple times a year. In fact, there were  seven  mandatory updates to California labor laws in 2018 alone, not including any mandatory federal or city changes. As you can imagine, it can be hard to keep up. To help out, we offer our OneSystem subscription plan for federal and state requirements. Under the plan, subscribers will receive updated labor law posters as and when they’re required—letting you stay in compliance all year round with no extra work on your part. Plus, the plan includes a $25,000 Poster Violation Warranty to protect you from fines.

 

Q: Where do I need to display these posters?

The rules are a little vague, but we’ve explained it here in detail.

Essentially, you’ll want to make sure your posters are hung somewhere highly visible where they can be easily viewed by all employees. Common areas like break rooms and lunch rooms or near the time clock are great options, as long as all your employees frequent these areas.

However, if you have multiple floors, buildings, or entrance points, and there is no single area that all your employees use, you’ll have to display posters on every floor or in all the buildings to be compliant with the law.

 

Q: Are labor law posters free?

Technically, yes—they are available for download from government agencies. But keeping up with frequent labor law changes can be harder than you might expect, especially in California.

Instead, save all that time (and ink) printing notices one-by-one by letting us handle it for you!  We offer an All-in-One Poster for California that includes all required federal and state notices, so you can be sure you’re compliant and won’t incur fines.