Sign or Veto? Test Your Knowledge on 2026’s Employment Law Bills
As California’s 2026 legislative session closes, employers are watching Sacramento with anticipation. Governor Gavin Newsom faces a September 30, 2026, deadline to either sign into law or veto dozens of bills passed by the Legislature — his final bill-signing period before his term ends in January 2027. Many of these bills would impose new compliance obligations on California employers, expand employee rights, and create fresh enforcement tools for state regulators.

The proposed bills touch nearly every aspect of the workplace — from AI in discipline and termination decisions and workplace surveillance to bereavement leave, immigration-related protections, and industry-specific measures for restaurants and hotels. The outcome of these measures will determine how employers operate in 2027 and beyond.

Our 5th Annual “Sign or Veto” Contest

To make this season of legislative suspense a little more fun, we invite you to participate in the 5th Annual Zaller Law Group “Sign or Veto” Contest. Here’s your chance to test your knowledge of California politics and workplace trends:

• Review the list of key employment bills we’ve picked. The first 19 questions cover the employment and hospitality bills discussed in this week’s Friday’s Five article.
• Watch for the two curveballs at the end: AB 1709 (social media features for users under 16) and SB 867 (AI chatbots in children’s toys) are not employment bills and were not covered in the article — we included them to keep you on your toes. They count toward your score just like the others.
• Make your picks: Will Governor Newsom sign the bill into law, or exercise his veto power?
• Submit your entry before September 25 (Friday) at midnight.

This year’s champion will take home a Zaller Law Group Yeti cooler backpack. Runners-up in second and third place will score exclusive Zaller Law swag. Beyond the prizes, the real reward is the bragging rights that come with proving your political and employment law knowledge.

How to Play

1. Register your predictions below.
2. Submit your picks by September 25, 2026, by midnight PT.
3. If there are ties, the person who submitted the entry first will be deemed the winner.

Winners will be announced after the Governor’s September 30 deadline, and prizes will be awarded to the top predictors.
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Industry *
AB 2495 *
Immigration-Related Coercion: Would expand Labor Code section 1019 to prohibit any conduct related to a person’s perceived immigration status that would reasonably tend to dissuade a worker from exercising rights under any local, state, or federal law, and would add a new civil penalty of up to $10,000 per employee per violation, payable to the worker.
SB 947 *
No Robo Bosses Act: Would prohibit employers, beginning July 1, 2027, from relying solely on an automated decision system to discipline or discharge a worker, would ban predictive-analytics tools that forecast worker behavior or emotional state, and would require written post-use notice and data access when an employer primarily relies on such a system. Governor Newsom vetoed a broader version (SB 7) in 2025.
AB 1331 *
Workplace Surveillance in Bathrooms: Would prohibit employers from monitoring or surveilling employees in a workplace bathroom and would allow employees to leave surveillance devices behind when entering a bathroom, with civil penalties of up to $500 per violation.
AB 1883 *
AI Surveillance Tools: Would prohibit employers from using AI-based workplace surveillance tools that collect neural data or purport to recognize an employee’s emotional state.
SB 951 *
AI-Driven Layoff Notices: Would require Cal-WARN notices for mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations caused in whole or substantial part by AI or automation to include information about the job functions being automated, and would require EDD to publish summaries and report to the Legislature.
SB 1149 *
Bereavement Leave – Designated Person: Would extend the existing five-day bereavement leave right to the death of a “designated person” identified by the employee, with employers permitted to limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period.
AB 1940 *
Menopause Protections: Would add perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause, and related medical conditions to the definition of “sex” under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and would require the Civil Rights Department to update its workplace poster by July 1, 2027.
AB 2563 *
Sex Discrimination – Scope: Would require all state laws prohibiting sex or gender discrimination to be liberally construed and would define sex discrimination to include actual or perceived conformity to sex or gender stereotypes.
AB 1803 *
Anti-Hate Speech Training: Would require, beginning January 1, 2028, that the mandatory sexual harassment prevention training for employers with five or more employees include an anti-hate speech component.
AB 1697 *
Stay-or-Pay Delay: Would delay the operative date of last year’s AB 692 ban on “stay-or-pay” contract terms from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027, and would add exemptions for grant-funded retention bonus programs, repayment of advanced PTO, and certain securities and insurance affiliation agreements. (Urgency bill.)
AB 2321 *
Cal/OSHA Investigations: Would require the Bureau of Investigations to investigate serious injuries where a willful violation is cited, would require immediate notice to district attorneys for incidents with five or more serious injuries or a fatality, and would make it a misdemeanor to willfully resist or interfere with a Cal/OSHA inspector.
AB 1961 *
Workplace Violence Restraining Orders: Would allow an employer to obtain a workplace violence restraining order protecting all employees at a specific workplace or location without naming each employee individually.
SB 690 *
Digital Wiretapping Litigation Reform: Would limit enforcement of the California Invasion of Privacy Act’s “pen register” provision to the Attorney General when the alleged conduct involves a website or mobile app, eliminating private lawsuits over website tracking tools, and would apply to pending claims filed within two years before the effective date.
SB 1237 *
Pay Data Reporting Penalties: Would increase the maximum civil penalty for a repeat failure to file the annual California pay data report from $200 to $1,000 per employee.
AB 2646 *
Agricultural Minimum Wage: Would set a $19.75 hourly minimum wage for approved agricultural employees (H-2A workers and their domestic counterparts), indexed annually to the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.
AB 2721 *
Hotels – Immigration Enforcement Disclosures: Would require a hotel operator that knows or should know that ICE or CBP has reserved rooms to post a notice to hotel workers identifying the agency and duration of stay and to disclose the potential agency presence to guests at check-in, enforceable under the Unfair Competition Law with liability capped at $5,000.
AB 1640 *
Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act: Would prohibit selling or transferring a restaurant reservation for more than the price originally paid to obtain it, enforceable by the Attorney General, local prosecutors, and harmed restaurants or diners.
AB 2663 *
Cocktails-to-Go: Would extend the authority for restaurants with an on-sale license to sell prepackaged cocktails and other non-beer alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption with a meal from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2029. (Urgency bill.)
AB 1776 *
Antitrust – Cartwright Act: Would expand California antitrust law to cover single-firm monopolization using a “substantial market power” standard, with enforcement limited to the Attorney General and district attorneys and an exemption for small businesses.
AB 1709 *
Social Media and Minors: Would prohibit social media platforms from providing addictive features to users under 16.
SB 867 *
AI Chatbots in Toys: Would ban AI companion chatbots in children’s toys.
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