You hit send on the SB 294 “Know Your Rights” notice.
You pushed out the emergency contact form.
You told yourself, “We’re covered.”
Here’s the reality: when your handbook doesn’t line up with what that notice guarantees, you’re not just exposed, you’ve unintentionally created a checklist for employees, regulators, and plaintiff’s attorneys to use against you.
California has given you the notice, but not a playbook. Without updated policies, training, and scripts, you’re left with growing blind spots that eventually surface as complaints, audits, or lawsuits.
If you’re a California employer, sending the SB 294 ‘Know Your Rights’ notice is the easy part. The real risk lives in your employee handbook. This guide walks through five SB 294 employee handbook updates most California employers are quietly missing—and gives you copy‑ready language plus an SB 294 handbook template to close the gap.
The real risk: “We sent the notice” is not a defense. What do I change?
Most leaders are asking the wrong question:
“Did we send the SB 294 notice by February 1?”
The better question is:
“If the Labor Commissioner or a plaintiff attorney compares our notice to our handbook, will they see alignment—or potential risk?”
SB 294 forces you to tell the truth out loud about:
- Workers’ comp rights.
- Immigration-related protections.
- Law enforcement interactions at work.
- Labor organizing rights.
If your handbook is silent, vague, or contradictory in any of those areas, you’ve created risk and may have eroded trust, especially for employees who are already watching for bias and inconsistency.
Let’s talk about the five sections that may need a culture reset, not just a legal tweak.
Section 1: Annual “Know Your Rights” Notice Policy. Name It, Don’t Bury It
Right now, most handbooks pretend SB 294 doesn’t exist. The notice lives in an email or poster; the handbook hums along like nothing changed.
That’s a problem.
Your handbook needs a short, direct section that says, in plain language:
“Every year, by February 1, we provide a ‘Workplace – Know Your Rights’ notice. It explains your rights related to workplace injuries, immigration-related inspections, law enforcement at work, and your right to organize. You’ll receive this notice when you’re hired and each year after that. We’ll provide it in the language we normally use to communicate with you.”
Why this matters:
- It signals accountability: this isn’t a one-time scramble, it’s a recurring promise.
- It gives employees a predictable rhythm: “I know when and how I’ll see this.”
Script for rolling this out in a staff meeting:
“You’re going to see a ‘Know Your Rights’ notice from us every year. This isn’t just a legal checkbox—we’re naming, in writing, what you can expect from us around safety, immigration, law enforcement, and organizing. If anything in your day-to-day experience doesn’t match what that notice says, we want to hear about it.”
That’s not basic. That’s culture work.
Section 2: Emergency Contact Designation Policy—Stop Treating This Like a Form
SB 294 didn’t just tweak your emergency contact form. It added a deeply human question:
“If something serious happens while you’re working like being arrested or detained and we know about it, do you want us to notify someone you choose?”
This is about dignity and family, not paperwork.
Your handbook should clearly explain:
- Employees can designate an emergency contact and decide whether that person should be notified if they’re arrested or detained while working or during work hours.
- Saying “yes” is voluntary. Saying “no” is also respected. They can change their choice at any time.
- Only specific people (for example, HR) can access this information, and it will only be used for the situations described.
Script for HR introducing the form:
“This new emergency contact option is about transparency and respect. You get to decide: if something serious happens related to work—like an arrest or detention—do you want us to notify someone for you? You can say yes or no, and you can change your mind anytime. Our job is to honor your choice, not to pressure you.”
This is where inclusion, trauma-awareness, and compliance intersect. Treat it that way.
Section 3: Workers’ Compensation & Injury Reporting. Your Notice and Your Policy Must Tell the Same Story
The SB 294 notice tells employees they have rights if they’re injured or get sick because of work.
Meanwhile, many handbooks still say something like: “Report injuries immediately. Failure to do so may result in discipline.”
See the problem?
You need to rewrite your workers’ comp and injury section so it:
- Names that employees may be eligible for workers’ comp benefits when work causes or contributes to an injury or illness.
- Affirms non-retaliation for reporting injuries, filing claims, or raising safety concerns.
- Explains the reporting steps in clear, non-threatening language.
Before (what I often see):
“Employees must report all injuries immediately to their supervisor. Failure to do so may lead to disciplinary action.”
After (what respects rights and reduces risk):
“If you are injured or become ill because of your work, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Please report any work-related injury or illness to your supervisor or HR as soon as you can so we can support you and begin any required paperwork. We do not retaliate against employees for reporting injuries, filing workers’ compensation claims, or raising safety concerns.”
That’s Berandette’s Jones HR-achy new letter clarity: fewer threats, more straightforward truth.
Section 4: Immigration-Related Rights – Calm, clear, and specific
SB 294 expects the state and you to say something concrete about how immigration-related inspections and document checks are handled.
Employees who are immigrants, have immigrant family members, or have lived through prior enforcement waves are reading every word you put in writing.
Your handbook should:
- Acknowledge that government agencies sometimes conduct inspections or request documents.
- Explain that the company will follow the law in how it responds and will not retaliate against employees for asserting their rights or asking questions.
- Give a point of contact: “If you receive notices or have concerns about an inspection or request, here’s who to talk to.”
Leadership, and People Manager script if an employee brings in a scary-looking letter:
“Thank you for bringing this to me. Our next step is to get this to HR so we can review what’s required and respond appropriately. You have rights in these situations, and we don’t retaliate against employees for raising concerns or asking questions about immigration-related issues.”
You’re lowering panic, not pretending these situations don’t exist.
Section 5: Labor Organizing & Non-Retaliation Policy. Your policies can’t quietly contradict the notice
The state’s notice tells your employees they have a right to organize and act together about working conditions. Your handbook can’t secretly say, “But don’t you dare.”
Watch for:
- Overly broad “no negativity” or “no complaining” language.
- Social media rules that prohibit employees from talking about pay, schedules, or working conditions.
- Policies that suggest loyalty means “keep concerns inside the family and never talk to anybody else.”
You don’t need a long section. You need a clear, grounded one:
“Employees have the right to raise concerns about their working conditions, including pay, scheduling, and safety. Nothing in this handbook is intended to limit your right to discuss these concerns with coworkers or others, or to participate in lawful organizing or concerted activity. We do not retaliate against employees for exercising these rights.”
That’s respect. That’s civility. That’s defensible.
The system gap: “We did it” vs. “We can prove it” The Where
This is where strategic leaders separate themselves from the “I downloaded a template” crowd.
Most employers stop at:
- “We emailed the notice.”
- “We uploaded the form.”
Strategic, risk-aware leaders ask:
- Where do we log that each employee received the notice, on which date, and in which language?
- How do we track who opted in or out of emergency contact notification—and who can see that data?
- What’s our protocol when we have actual knowledge that an employee has been arrested or detained during work hours? Who documents it? Who makes the call? Who logs that we followed the law?
Simple script for internal ownership (HR to leadership):
“We’re not just sending a notice. We’re building an SB 294 system: notice distribution, language tracking, emergency contact preferences, and documentation when serious incidents happen. I need us to agree on who owns each part of that process so we’re audit‑ready and employees see consistency between what we send and how we act.”
That’s the difference between tactical compliance and strategic risk management.
What they’re asking vs. what they need to ask
Let’s name the gap explicitly.
What most employers are asking:
- “Did we send the SB 294 notice to everyone by February 1?”
- “Do we have an emergency contact form on file?”
What they should be asking:
- “If someone compares our notice to our handbook, will they see alignment—or contradictions?”
- “If the state asks us to prove compliance, can we show clean, complete records?”
- “Do our managers know what to do when law enforcement walks in or when they learn someone was detained while working?”
Your content—and your policies—should live in that second column.
Your next step: stop guessing, start aligning
If reading this made your shoulders tense, that’s your cue.
Don’t wait for an audit or a crisis to discover that your SB 294 notice and your handbook are telling two different stories.
Use your Free 20-Minute Discovery Call to:
- Walk through where SB 294 shows up (or doesn’t) in your current handbook.
- Identify the top gaps between your notice, your policies, and your actual workflows.
- Leave with a clear, prioritized plan to align your handbook, your systems, and your culture—before March 30 puts your emergency contact process to the test.
Respect, civility, inclusion, and risk mitigation can live in the same policy set.
Stay Intentional
