The Next Deadline for California’s Workplace Know Your Rights Act: What Employers Must Do by March 30

The Next Deadline for California’s Workplace Know Your Rights Act: What Employers Must Do by March 30

California employers have until March 30 to give employees an opportunity to designate emergency contacts to be notified if they are detained or arrested at work. This requirement is part of the state’s new Workplace Know Your Rights Act, which Governor Newsom signed into law last year in response to current federal immigration activity. While employees may decline to designate emergency contacts, employers must give them a chance to do so before the impending deadline or during onboarding for employees hired after that date. We’ll explain what employers must do to comply, as well as some best practices, and offer four practical steps you can take now to avoid violations and penalties.

Overview of California’s Workplace Know Your Rights Act

The new law, which took effect January 1, requires employers to:

• provide employees an annual written notice regarding certain workplace rights, including certain protections against unfair immigration-related practices (the first deadline to provide this notice was February 1, 2026, and after that date new employees must first receive it at the time of hire – learn more here); and
• notify an employee’s designated emergency contact if the employee is arrested or detained at their worksite or even offsite, if certain conditions are met (more on this below).

This Insight will focus on the second bullet point above, including when and how employers must allow employees to choose whether to name an emergency contact who should be notified if they are arrested or detained while on the job.

What Do Employers Need to Do by March 30?

You must give California employees an opportunity to indicate whether they want you to notify an emergency contact if they are arrested or detained either:

• at their worksite; or
• offsite, but during work hours or while they are performing job duties – so long as the employer has actual knowledge of the employee’s arrest or detention.

After March 30, you must give this same opportunity to new employees at their time of hire.

How Should Employers Collect Information?

The law does not specify any certain format for collecting emergency contact information or any certain content that must be included during that process. However, we recommend that you update your existing emergency contact forms or create a new stand-alone form for this purpose. The form should:

• make it clear that it is the employee’s choice as to whether to designate an emergency contact for workplace detentions or arrests;
• document whether employees are opting or declining to do so;
• solicit emergency contact information for employees who opt in, including, for example, the contact’s name, relationship to the employee, phone number, and language preference;
• inform employees that they may update this form at any time and tell them how they can requests those updates; and
• obtain the employee’s signature and the date of signing.

This emergency contact form could be distributed and completed in person or, presumably, in any manner that the law permits for purposes of its annual notice requirements. For example, you could utilize electronic methods, such as onboarding software or email with tracking acknowledgement, so long as you normally use such methods to communicate employment-related information and can reasonably anticipate that the employee will receive it within one business day of sending. You won’t be penalized if the employee does not respond, though you must be able to prove that you made the offer in a reasonable manner.

Is This a One-Time Obligation?

While the law only requires you to give employees one opportunity to elect an emergency contact for detentions or arrests (either by March 30, 2026, or at the time of hire after that date), you are required to allow employees to provide updated emergency contact information throughout the duration of employment. You should therefore train HR and managers and allow employees to update their forms anytime upon their request. 

Once an employee has elected and designated an emergency contact, you must notify their designated person if they are arrested or detained at work (whether at the jobsite or offsite when certain conditions are met, as explained above).

What Are the Consequences of Failing to Comply?

If you fail to timely give an employee an opportunity to designate an emergency contact for detentions or arrests, or if you fail to notify an employee’s designated person upon their detention or arrest, you could face penalties of up to $500 per employee for each day the violation occurs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per employee. This is in addition to any other potential remedies available under California’s Labor Code.

3 Steps You Can Take Now

If you have not done so already, you must act quickly to comply with the Workplace Know Your Rights Act’s emergency contact requirements before the March 30 deadline:

1. Update your emergency contact forms or create a new one for purposes of detentions and arrests.
2. Distribute these forms to each existing employee no later than March 30 (and at the time of hire for employees hired after that date).
3. Keep records to prove when and how you provided these forms.
4. Train managers and supervisors of their obligations to contact an employee’s designated contact (if elected) if the employee is arrested or detained, and to update emergency contact designations upon an employee’s request.

Conclusion

We will continue to monitor developments in this area, so make sure you are subscribed to Fisher Phillips’ Insight System to get the most up-to-date information. If you have questions regarding the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, please contact your Fisher Phillips attorney, the authors of this alert, or any attorney in any of our California offices.