Labor Code §§1550–1559 – Workplace Know Your Rights Act

California Labor Code sections 1550 through 1559, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act, require employers to give every employee a stand-alone written notice of key workplace rights by February 1 each year, and to let each employee name an emergency contact the employer must notify if the employee is arrested or detained at work. The law came from Senate Bill 294 and took effect January 1, 2026.

This page is a statute guide: what each of the ten sections says, who is covered, the exceptions, the penalties and the deadlines. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the notice itself, see our Know Your Rights notice guide. For your rights if immigration agents come to your job, see workplace immigration rights in California.

What Labor Code §§1550–1559 say, section by section

The act is Part 5.6 of Division 2 of the Labor Code. The mirror of the official code lists all ten sections as in effect since January 1, 2026.

Section	What it does (paraphrased)
1550	Names the part the “Workplace Know Your Rights Act.”
1551	States the Legislature’s intent that workers have “a strong understanding of their rights as workers” and of their constitutional rights.
1552	Defines “authorized representative” as an exclusive collective bargaining representative, in practice your union.
1553	The annual written notice: deadline, recipients, contents, delivery, language and recordkeeping.
1554	The Labor Commissioner’s template notice and the worker and employer videos.
1555	Emergency contacts: when the employer must notify yours and when it must let you name one.
1556	A collective bargaining agreement can override the part only if the waiver is clear and unambiguous.
1557	Bars retaliation for using these rights, complaining to the Labor Commissioner or helping an investigation.
1558	Enforcement by the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors, and the penalties.
1559	Local ordinances that give workers equal or greater protection are not preempted.

Key fact

Who the act covers

Employees: section 1553 requires the notice for each current employee and for each new employee at hire. The Labor Commissioner’s announcement says the notice must go to all workers “regardless of their immigration status.”

Employers: the sections set no minimum employer size, and the Department of Industrial Relations describes the duty as applying to all California employers. The Labor Commissioner’s model notice lists the Public Employment Relations Board as a contact for public-sector workers. Unlike Labor Code 90.2, though, these sections don’t expressly say whether public agencies are covered, so if you work for a city, county, school district or the state, get advice on how the act applies to you.

Unions: if you have an authorized representative, it must receive the notice each year by electronic or regular mail.

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Section 1553: the annual written notice

• Deadline: “On or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter” for current employees, and at hire for new employees.
• Form: a stand-alone written notice, delivered the way the employer normally communicates employment-related information. Personal service, email or text message works if the notice “can reasonably be anticipated to be received by the employee within one business day of sending.”
• Language: the language the employer normally uses with you and that you understand, if the Labor Commissioner’s template exists in that language.
• Records: the employer must keep records of compliance for three years, including the date each notice was provided.

The notice must describe your rights in five areas listed in subdivision (a):

1. Workers’ compensation benefits, including disability pay and medical care, plus contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
2. Notice of an inspection by immigration agencies under Labor Code 90.2(a). See our Labor Code 90.2 explainer.
3. Protection from unfair immigration-related practices against people exercising protected rights.
4. The right to organize a union or engage in concerted activity.
5. Constitutional rights when law enforcement comes to the workplace, including Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and Fifth Amendment rights, including the right against self-incrimination.

Subdivision (b) adds a description of new legal developments the Labor Commissioner considers material and a list of agencies that enforce these rights. Subdivision (d) lets employers also link to or show the Labor Commissioner’s video.

Section 1554: the template and videos

The Labor Commissioner had to post a template notice by January 1, 2026, and must post an updated version every year. It must be in “plain terminology that is easily understood by a worker” and available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. The Labor Commissioner also had to create a worker video (English and Spanish) and an employer video by July 1, 2026, after consulting the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the Public Employment Relations Board and the Attorney General’s office. Employers may use the template; the statute doesn’t require it.

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Section 1555: emergency contacts

If you asked your employer to notify a designated emergency contact, the employer must do so when you are arrested or detained:

• On the worksite: notification is required.
• Off the worksite, during work hours or while doing your job: notification is required only if the employer has “actual knowledge of the arrest or detention.”

Employers had to give current employees the chance to name an emergency contact by March 30, 2026, and must give the chance to employees hired after that date at hire. You can update your contact “through the duration of employment,” and you choose whether notice applies to worksite arrests, off-site arrests during work, or both.

By the numbers$10,000

Exceptions and limits

• Union contracts (section 1556): a collective bargaining agreement can supersede the act in whole or in part, but only if the waiver is “explicitly set forth in the agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.”
• Off-site arrests (section 1555): no duty to notify unless the employer actually knows.
• Local law (section 1559): the act doesn’t preempt a city or county ordinance that gives equal or greater protection.
• Not a replacement for posters: the Labor Commissioner says the notice supplements, and does not replace, required workplace postings.

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Penalties and enforcement (sections 1557 and 1558)

• Retaliation ban: under section 1557, an employer may not “discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate or retaliate” against you for exercising these rights, filing a complaint with the Labor Commissioner, cooperating in an investigation, or helping enforce the act.
• Who enforces: the Labor Commissioner investigates, can order temporary relief, issue citations and file a civil action, using the procedures in Labor Code 98, 98.3, 98.7, 98.74 or 1197.1. A public prosecutor may also enforce the act.
• Court remedies: in a civil action brought by the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor, the petitioner may seek injunctive relief, punitive damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
• Notice penalty: up to $500 per employee for each violation (section 1558(d)(1)).
• Emergency-contact penalty: up to $500 per employee for each day a section 1555 violation occurs, up to $10,000 per employee (section 1558(d)(2)).
• No double recovery: “An employee, the Labor Commissioner, or a public prosecutor may recover a penalty under this part,” either as a statutory penalty paid to the employee or as a civil penalty, but not both for the same violation.

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Deadlines at a glance

Duty or step	Deadline	Source
Annual notice to current employees	February 1, 2026, then every year	Labor Code 1553(a)
Notice to new employees	At hire	Labor Code 1553(a)
Chance to name an emergency contact	March 30, 2026 for current employees; at hire for later hires	Labor Code 1555(b)
Labor Commissioner template	January 1, 2026, updated yearly	Labor Code 1554(a)
Worker and employer videos	July 1, 2026	Labor Code 1554(b)–(c)
Employer keeps compliance records	3 years	Labor Code 1553(e)
Retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner	Within one year of the retaliation; may be extended for good cause	Labor Code 98.7(a)

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Related sections

Section	How it connects
Labor Code 90.2	The 72-hour notice of I-9 inspections that the annual notice must describe.
Labor Code 1019–1019.2	Unfair immigration-related practices and limits on reverifying work authorization (a 2018 federal court order blocks enforcement of the reverification limit against private employers). See our Labor Code 1019 explainer.
Labor Code 98.7	The Labor Commissioner’s retaliation complaint process referenced in section 1558. See our Labor Code 98.7 explainer.
Labor Code 5401	The workers’ comp claim form, one of the workers’ comp rights the notice points you to. See our Labor Code 5401 explainer.
Gov. Code 7285.1 and 7285.2	Limits on employers voluntarily letting immigration agents into non-public areas or giving them employee records without a warrant or subpoena. A 2018 federal court order blocks enforcement of both sections against private employers.

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How the act plays out

💡 Example: A hypothetical warehouse with 60 employees never sends the 2026 notice. Under section 1558(d)(1), the penalty is up to $500 per employee for that violation, so the most it could owe is 60 × $500 = $30,000. Separately, one worker had named her brother as her emergency contact and asked that he be told of any arrest at work. She is detained inside the warehouse during her shift, and no one at the company calls him. A section 1555 violation carries up to $500 per employee for each day a violation occurs, capped at $10,000 per employee. A single missed call on one day means up to $500 for her; it would take violations on 20 separate days ($10,000 ÷ $500 = 20) to reach the per-employee cap.

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What to do if your employer skipped these duties

1. Check your email, texts and paperwork from around February 1 and from your hire date. Save the notice if you received one.
2. If you never got a chance to name an emergency contact, ask for one in writing and keep a copy of your request.
3. Report a missing notice or an ignored emergency contact to the Labor Commissioner’s Office. The Labor Commissioner says it will not question workers’ immigration status or report it to other agencies.
4. If you were disciplined, threatened or fired for raising these rights, a retaliation complaint must be filed within one year. Our retaliation claims page explains the options.

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FAQ: Labor Code 1550–1559

Does the Workplace Know Your Rights Act apply to small employers?

Sections 1550–1559 set no minimum number of employees, and DIR says all California employers must provide the notice.

Does the notice have to be in my language?

Section 1553(c) requires the language the employer normally uses with you and that you understand, if the Labor Commissioner’s template is available in that language. The template must be offered in at least nine languages under section 1554(a).

What does “actual knowledge” mean in section 1555?

It applies only to arrests or detentions off the worksite during work hours or while you are doing your job. In that situation, the employer must notify your contact only if it actually knows about the arrest or detention. For arrests on the worksite, the notification duty applies whenever you asked for it.

Can my union contract waive these rights?

Only if the agreement says so “in clear and unambiguous terms” (section 1556). A general clause is not enough.

Can I recover a penalty myself?

Section 1558(d)(3) names “an employee” among those who may recover a penalty, paid either to the employee as a statutory penalty or as a civil penalty, but not both. Enforcement provisions name the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors, so talk to a lawyer about the right path for your situation.

Is section 1557 limited to firing?

No. It also covers threats to fire, demotion, suspension and any other discrimination or retaliation for exercising these rights.

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Sources

• Labor Code (California Public Law mirror of leginfo, verified Oct. 2026): §1550, §1551, §1552, §1553, §1554, §1555, §1556, §1557, §1558, §1559
• DIR news release 2026-14 (Jan. 30, 2026): Workplace Know Your Rights Act
• DIR: New Labor Laws in California
• Labor Commissioner letter to employers on 2026 new laws
• Labor Commissioner model Workplace Know Your Rights notice (English)
• DIR Labor Commissioner: How to file a retaliation complaint

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