New "Know Your Rights" Notice: What California Employers Should Know by February 1, 2026
Under the recently passed “Workplace Know Your Rights Act,” all California employers must distribute a “Know Your Rights” Notice to their employees by February 1, 2026—and then must continue to do so annually and upon hire.
The Notice provides employees with information regarding union rights, immigration-related rights, workers’ compensation information, and workplace protections, such as anti-retaliation. The Notice is a document meant to outline already-existing employee rights— it does not create new rights.
The Notice must be a stand-alone document to be delivered to all employees in hard copy or in electronic format, in their primary language. The Department of Industrial Relations has created a template in both English and Spanish, and will soon provide templates in additional languages. The Notice can be found at https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Know-Your-Rights-Notice/Know-Your-Rights-Notice-English.pdf (English) and https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Know-Your-Rights-Notice/Know-Your-Rights-Notice-Spanish.pdf (Spanish).
Employers should begin planning now to issue the notice by the February 1st deadline and incorporate this new compliance obligation into their current suite of employee onboarding documents. California employers with any questions regarding the Notice or their obligations regarding its dissemination should contact their trusted MSK Labor & Employment attorney.
