Newsom Signs 20-Plus California Employment Laws, Vetoes Menopause FEHA Bill
Newsom signed 20-plus California employment bills — AI surveillance bans, a "No Robo Bosses" automated-decision rule, and AI-displacement WARN notices — with most operative January 1, 2027.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed more than twenty employment-related bills from the 2025-26 session, most taking effect January 1, 2027, and vetoed AB 1940, which would have added menopause and related conditions to the Fair Employment and Housing Act's definition of sex.
For major employers the AI-adjacent items are the heaviest lift. AB 1883 bars AI-driven surveillance incorporating facial, gait or emotion recognition or collecting neural data, and bars using surveillance to infer protected characteristics, enforced by the labor commissioner with a private right of action. SB 947, the successor to SB 7 (vetoed in 2025), bars using an automated decision system as the sole basis for discipline or termination absent independent human corroboration, with ADS restrictions operative July 1, 2027. SB 951 amends Cal/WARN to require notices flagging AI- or automation-caused displacement and identifying the affected job functions and system. AB 1331 restricts bathroom surveillance and mandatory tracking devices, with penalties up to $500 per violation.
Elsewhere, SB 1237 raises penalties for late pay data reports to as much as $1,000 per employee, AB 2495 expands immigration-related retaliation exposure to $10,000 per person per violation, and AB 1697 delays "stay or pay" restrictions to contracts entered on or after January 1, 2027. Counsel should watch for implementing guidance and policy updates before year-end.